


Who's Gonna Fill Her Shoes?

by ARtheBard



Series: JEmily Forever [11]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-10-26 02:52:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 22,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10777980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ARtheBard/pseuds/ARtheBard
Summary: When Garcia is kidnapped while babysitting Henry, the team has to profile her to figure out who might have taken her and why? But will they be able to find their goddess before one or more members of the team are lost?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place a couple of weeks after Testify and the team is back on even keel.

“Well, if you had ducked he wouldn’t have hit you,” Morgan points out.

“If you had secured the cuffs on his wrists, he couldn’t have thrown the punch,” Emily counters.

JJ rolls her eyes as she continues to read her book. “Children behave or you’ll have to be separated. And since we’re on the jet that means one of you will be sitting on the wing. Now hush!”

Reid and Rossi exchange a look as Morgan and Emily lapse into silence.

“Henry is in so much trouble when he’s a teenager,” Rossi tells the younger man.

“Who says he won’t be in trouble sooner,” Reid jokes.

JJ turns in her seat and glares at the two men sitting on the couch. The look is all it takes to stop their teasing. She slowly nods and turns back around. Hotch, walking up from the back, taps JJ lightly on the head.

“No scaring the profilers, JJ. Even if they deserve it,” he jokes.

She just winks at him. She looks over as Emily removes the ice pack from her lip. The blonde grimaces.

“Damn, honey. It’s getting bigger and bluer.”

“Not helping, Jen. Hurts like a motherfucker.”

Morgan leans forward on the table. “Emily, I really am sorry,” he says contritely.

She gives him a half-smile, “I know. It could have happened to anyone. Just remember this next time we run through Hogan’s Alley,” she says with an evil wink.

He chuckles and nods.

It is nearly midnight when the plane finally lands at the airstrip at Quantico. They had been out of town since Sunday and we’re happy that the next day was Saturday. No one even wanted to think about working for 48 hours.

As they disembark, Emily hands the keys to her Lexus to JJ. JJ just smiles, having thought she’d have to fight for the keys. But obviously the headache that goes with the split and swollen lip is bad enough the brunette doesn’t want to drive.

They were eager to get home and see Henry, who had been staying with Garcia that week. They had been thrilled when the technical analyst had said she’d stay at the condo that night so they could see Henry sooner rather than later. JJ has to set the cruise control to keep from speeding. To keep awake she starts to talk to her wife.

“Next week is Thanksgiving,” she starts.

“I’d heard a rumor about that,” Emily interrupts.

“Don’t be a smartass. Your mother was wondering what we wanted to do.”

“When did you talk to my mother?”

“We were texting and she mentioned maybe having dinner at the condo.”

“Wait, wait, wait…my mother texts? With you?”

JJ starts to laugh. “Of course she does. We text a lot.”

“About what?” Emily asks, stunned.

“You, Henry, us, gossip. All sorts of stuff.”

“Great. My wife is a pod person now, too,” Emily grumbles.

JJ slaps Emily’s hand. “Your mother is not a pod person! And neither am I! She is just trying to connect to your life and using me and Henry is a way to do that without opening herself up to your ‘pod person’ comments,” JJ scolds her wife.

Emily sighs. “Okay. I get it. Look, I’m too tired to make this decision tonight. Can we discuss it tomorrow?”

“Sure, baby.”

They drive in silence a few minutes. Emily cuts her eyes towards JJ. “Pod person,” she accuses with a grin.

JJ laughs and takes Emily’s hand. “But you love me anyway.”

As they pull into the parking garage they see Garcia’s classic convertible in one of the visitor spots. JJ parks in Emily’s space a few feet away and the women start to gather their things. As Emily gets out of the SUV she frowns and stops to listen.

“Jen? Do you hear crying?”

JJ stops then shakes her head. “No. But I’m right near the elevator motor. Hurry up and get your stuff. It’s cold out here.”

She walks around the car to see Emily slowly walking away from their parking space. Emily slowly scans the area. JJ starts to scold her wife but then tenses as she now hears the wailing cries of a child.

“Oh my God,” Emily blurts and races towards Garcia’s car. She looks in the backseat to see Henry still strapped into his car seat. “HENRY!” She tries the doors but they are locked. “JJ, get the crowbar from the trunk!”

JJ is stunned for a moment but another wail from Henry spurs her into action. She opens the backend of their Lexus and grabs the crowbar from the spare tire well. She runs over and hands it to Emily who moves to the driver’s side of the car. JJ stares in the passengers’ side window of the car, trying to calm her son.

“It’s okay, Henry. Mommy and Mama are here.”

JJ jumps and Henry is shocked into silence when Emily smashes the drivers’ door window. She slams the drivers’ seat forward and climbs in the back, undoing the safety straps securing Henry into his seat. By the time she lifts up their son, JJ is standing at the open door.

“Henry? Come here, baby. God, Em, is he okay?”

Emily’s voice is calmer than she feels as she hands him to JJ. “He’s okay, Jen. Just cold and scared. Now what the fuck was Garcia thinking?” Emily climbs out of the car, pulling out her phone. “I know she was tired. She worked as hard as all of us!” She hits Garcia’s speed dial prompt. “But to fucking forget Henry and leave him—”

Her rant ends as she hears Garcia’s phone start ringing nearby. She and JJ exchange a look as Emily follows the sound. The analysts’ phone is underneath a nearby car, the screen on it smashed. JJ looks into the car.

“Em, her purse and computer are in here.”

The agents exchange a worried look. Emily takes a deep breath. “I’ll call Hotch, you call Morgan. This isn’t good.”


	2. Chapter 2

Hotch has just pulled into his driveway when the call from Emily arrives. When she tells him what they’ve found, he pulls back out, calling for an FBI crime scene team to get to the parking garage.

JJ had wanted to take Henry right upstairs but Emily had made her wait, not sure if whoever took Garcia had gone up to the condo. Emily wants to check it out herself but she refuses to leave Henry and JJ alone. She is frustrated as hell. Her legs nearly give out when Morgan pulls into the garage.

“Emily! JJ!”

“Morgan, we’re okay.” He runs over to them, taking the time to stop and look over Garcia’s car. “What do we know?”

“Nothing. I’ve called the building manager and told him to review the security tapes and prepare copies for us. Morgan, we need to get Henry upstairs. We don’t know if…Morgan she could be up there but we couldn’t risk Henry,” Emily tells him.

He nods and pulls his gun. “I’ve got it.”

He takes Emily’s keys and heads into the elevator. The doors have just closed behind him when Hotch pulls in, followed closely by Rossi.

“Status?” Hotch demands.

“Henry was locked in the car,” Emily tells him. “I used a crowbar to get him out. I tried to call Garcia but her phone is over there,” she points to a blue sports car. “Her purse and computer are in the car. Morgan just went upstairs to check the condo.”

Hotch turns to Rossi. “Go.” Rossi nods and heads upstairs.

“I’ve got the manager making copies of the security video. He should have it for us soon.”

Hotch just nods, the worry etched on his face. He sees the crime techs arriving. “I’m going to get them going. As soon as Morgan okays it, get Henry upstairs out of this cold.”

Emily nods, looking towards her wife and son. JJ has Henry tucked inside her own coat and Emily’s overcoat is draped over them both. The brunette has the fire raging inside her to keep her warm. Her phone rings and she grabs it.

“Yeah, Morgan?”

“She’s not up here. It doesn’t look like anyone has been here since your cleaning service on Wednesday,” he tells her.

“How do you know they were there Wednesday?”

“They left you a note.”

“Oh. The techs are here and Hotch is working with them. I’m bringing JJ and Henry up.”

“Okay. After you all get up here we’ll head down to help Hotch.”

“Right. See you in a couple,” Emily agrees, knowing she can’t walk away from her wife and son right now. Once the fear subsides a bit, she and JJ will throw themselves into the search. But for now they needed to make completely sure Henry is okay. Emily walks over to the two beautiful blondes.

“The condo is clear. Let’s get him upstairs.”

JJ just nods, letting Emily lead them to the elevator. Emily is scared by how quiet JJ is. She hasn’t spoken since calling Morgan. Emily keeps them both wrapped in her arms the entire ride. As they exit they find Morgan and Rossi waiting for them, their guns ready. Emily is touched beyond words at their protective stance.

“Thank, guys,” she says as they pass.

JJ heads straight upstairs with Henry. Rossi lays a hand on Emily’s arm.

“You know if the target had been one of you, Henry would have been taken.” Emily nods. “Make sure she knows that, too.”

Emily takes his hand and squeezes. “I will. Thanks, Dave.”

The two male agents head out. Emily locks up behind them, knowing Morgan still has her keys. She heads up to the nursery to see to JJ and Henry. She finds JJ changing him into warm pajamas.

“Is he okay?”

“He still feels cold, Em. I’m scared.”

Emily walks up behind JJ and wraps her in a hug. “Look at him, Jen. He’s sleeping peacefully. He tired himself out crying. It probably kept him warm, too. He’s going to be just fine. If you want, we can take him to the doctor in the morning for a full check up. Okay?”

JJ nods. She turns and let’s Emily pull her into a hug, her tears won’t stop. “I keep thinking…what if…what if she had gone to her place. If they had taken her there…we’d have never…he’d have been…oh, God, Em…he’d have died in the car!”

Emily holds her tightly, trying to fight her own fears back. “But he didn’t. He is alive, Jen. We found him. He’s okay. But when we find the bastards that took Pen they’ll pay for what Henry’s gone through. I swear it.”

The two women stand there, watching over their son until Emily’s phone rings.

“Hotch?” She listens. “Okay. We’ll meet you in the living room.” She hangs up and looks at JJ. “The guys are on the way up. Are you up for this? No one will blame you for sitting this out.”

JJ takes a deep breath and wipes the traces of tears from her face. “She’s my best friend. And I know she did everything she could to protect Henry. I’m in.”

Emily smiles and kisses her. “I knew you would be, Agent Jareau.”

As they walk out of the room, Emily grabs the baby monitor off the charger. As they get downstairs the guys are coming in the door. Hotch moves to JJ and lays a hand on her shoulder.

“Henry okay?”

She forces a smile. “Yeah. He’s sleeping. But I need to take him to the doctor tomorrow to be sure.”

Hotch nods. “Of course. Whatever he needs.”

JJ looks down to hide the tears in her eyes. “Thanks,” she chokes out.

Emily rubs her back but looks at Hotch. “What are the techs saying?”

“So far there is—”

Someone starts pounding on the condo door. All 5 agents pull their sidearm.

“JJ! EMILY!”

All 5 relax.

“Spence,” JJ whispers.

Morgan goes to let the young man in. He races past the others right to JJ. “JJ! Henry?”

She smiles. “Upstairs asleep. He’s okay, Spence.”

“Thank God.” He looks to the others. “Garcia?”

Hotch restarts his report. “The techs found lots of prints. Most are probably Garcia’s. They’ll run yours, too, Prentiss, since you entered the car.” Emily nods. He pauses. “I’m sure you all know how Garcia came to the FBI. There’s a good chance this could be related to her previous hacking or it could be in retaliation for something she has done since she became an analyst. We need to profile her the way we would any other victim. It’s the only way we’ll be able to find who took her and why.”

The team exchanges uncomfortable looks. They had vowed to never profile each other but now they would have to tear Garcia’s life apart if they hoped to find her alive.

“We’re going to need a technical analyst,” Rossi points out.

“And I think we know the one we need,” Morgan hints.

Hotch nods and starts to call Kevin Lynch. Rossi stops him. “Aaron, he shouldn’t get this news over the phone.” Hotch nods. Rossi looks at Reid and they head out to get the technical analyst.


	3. Chapter 3

Soon after Rossi and Reid leave, the building manager calls Emily.

“Agent Prentiss, I have the video files you need.”

“Great, Louis. Can you bring them up, please?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She disconnects and looks at Hotch. “Louis is bringing up the parking garage surveillance footage. Hopefully it will have caught something we can use to end this quickly.”

The agents nod but all silently worry that whoever took Garcia would have made sure to avoid leaving too many clues. Their silent pacing is interrupted by cries from the baby monitor. Emily and JJ both move towards the stairs. JJ stops her wife.

“I have him. Stay here and help review the footage. There will probably be several angles so the more eyes the better.”

Emily just nods and watches JJ climb the steps. Morgan walks up and lays a hand on Emily’s shoulder.

“I can’t even imagine what you two are feeling about all this,” he tells her. What he does know is that Emily is shoving aside her own fears to be strong for JJ. Now Morgan would be strong for Emily.

“He could have died out there, Derek. It was so fucking cold. How the hell did he…” she can’t finish the train of thought.

He squeezes both of her shoulders in support. “He made it because he’s as tough as both his mothers.”

Emily chokes back a sob and reaches up to take one of Morgan’s hands in her own. When someone knocks on the door, Hotch moves to answer it to give Emily a moment to collect herself. By the time he returns with the thumb drive, Emily is pulling her laptop out while Morgan sets up JJ’s. Hotch downloads the files onto both computers and the agents start to review them.

Emily keys up the first file on her computer.

_Garcia pulls up to the gate and punches in the security code. As she goes through the gate closes behind her. The screen flickers and the gate is closing again._

”What the fuck?” Emily growls. She rewinds the feed and watches again. She sees the same jump. She rewinds it again and watches the timestamp. “Hotch, something happens to the gate camera. It loses 8 seconds of feed.”

Hotch walks up behind Emily and watches what she has seen. “The techs need to check the originals. Maybe Louis made an error when he saved them.”

”Maybe,” Emily says doubtfully.

Morgan had been watching a different feed.

_Garcia pulls into the parking space. She is talking over the seat towards Henry. She gets out of the car and the feed flickers. The car is there, Henry is there, Garcia is gone._

He slams his hand down onto the table. “The feed is fucked here, too. It has to be a proximity jammer. It knocks out the cameras where they need when they need it.”

”And when they are out of range of that camera it comes back on,” Emily finishes. She looks at Hotch. “Someone using that is extremely sophisticated. To be as precise as these they either paid a lot of money for them or built them themselves.”

”So now we know Garcia was targeted. We just have to figure out why,” he states.

“And the ‘why’ is a huge list: past crimes, current hacking ability, current job, past cases. It could even be about one of us,” Morgan points out.

Emily stiffens and her face pales. “Oh God…one of us…I didn’t even think of that.”

“Rossi was right, Em. If this was about you or your parents they would have taken Henry.”

Emily nods, unconvinced. “Right. Excuse me.”

She stands and moves into the spare bedroom on that floor. The men assume she just needs to collect herself. Emily closes the door behind her and locks it. She moves to the bookcase in that room and pops open a secret panel on it. She stares at the small safe inside a moment before keying it open. She stares at the large envelope inside, the only contents of the safe.

“ _Could this be why_?” she asks herself. “ _Could it be something to do with Lauren? Oh, God, what have I done? I’ve endangered them all_.”

She drops down on the end of the bed, staring at the envelope as if it might come alive and bite her. And maybe, just maybe, it has.


	4. Chapter 4

Rossi knocks on the door a third time as Reid rings the doorbell again. Finally they hear feet stomping towards them.

”I swear if this is a prank I will destroy your credit so bad you’re grandkids won’t be able to get a loan to buy bubblegum!” Kevin throws the door open. His next angry comment strangles off as he sees Reid and Rossi standing there. He slowly starts to shake his head. “No. Don’t tell me something happened to her. I won’t be able to handle it.”

Rossi feels for the man. “Kevin, we don’t know what’s happened. She was kidnapped.”

”Kidnapped? How? From where?”

”She was taken from Emily and JJ’s parking garage. The kidnappers left Henry behind in the car so we’re pretty sure Garcia was their goal,” Reid explains.

Kevin goes to speak but no words come out. Rossi steps closer, placing a fatherly hand on his shoulder.

”We’re going to get her back. And we need your help to do it. Are you up for it?”

Kevin stares at Rossi a moment, as if the man is a stranger. Finally his words sink in. Kevin slowly nods.

”I know her systems. I’m not as good with them but I can muddle through. I can be your analyst. I can help bring her home,” he promises.

Rossi smiles and nods. “Good. Get dressed and let’s find your lady.

* * *

 

It is horribly cold. Garcia’s bones actually ache she is so cold. The bastards that grabbed her had taken her faux-leopard fur coat and her fake rabbit fur gloves. The small room she is in has a chair and a table but definitely no heat. She paces, rubbing her arms, trying to avoid the place where the syringe had pierced her. She talks aloud because it makes her feel strong and she hopes it may intimidate her captors.

”You all are going to be so sorry you did this. My team will save me and my Morgan will kick your asses. And JJ is gonna be really pissed because of Henry. If you harm one hair on his head she’ll tear you limb from limb. And Emily is really dangerous. You’d better hope Morgan and JJ finish you off because I’m pretty sure Emily’s wrath will be the worst! And then there’s my big, linebacker boyfriend, Kevin. He will—”

“He will do nothing,” a voice blares out of a speaker in the ceiling. “Your boyfriend is a hacker nerd just like you. Only not as good. I suggest you cease with the threats, Penelope. You make us too angry and this little baby will pay the price. How long do you think he’ll survive outside in the cold in just his birthday suit?”

Garcia starts to shake her head, tears pooling in her eyes. “No! Please! Don’t hurt Henry. I’ll do whatever you want. Please just don’t hurt him.”

“Keep your mouth shut. You’ll get your instructions soon enough.”

Garcia stands in the middle of the room. Her fear has increased 100x knowing that Henry is in the hands of these psycho’s.

”Oh, Jayje, Em, Will…I’m so sorry I didn’t protect him better. I promise I will do my best not to let them hurt him. I don’t care what they do to me as long as they don’t hurt Henry,” she vows to her friends.


	5. Chapter 5

Emily takes a deep breath. If it was about Lauren, Henry would be dead. They wouldn’t have taken Garcia, they would have taken JJ. She keeps repeating these things to herself until she regains control of her emotions. She wipes the tears from her cheeks and stands, moving back to the bookcase. She again conceals her past.

“ _I need to tell Jen about my past. She deserves to know. Once we get Garcia back, I will tell her everything_ ,” Emily promises to herself.

With one last calming breath, she goes back out to the others. She sees JJ has joined them.

“Henry?”

“Back asleep. Dirty diaper,” JJ tells her.

Emily smiles and wraps an arm around JJ’s shoulder. JJ leans into the hug, her arm snaking around Emily’s waist. They both need the contact to steady them.

“Who’s Hotch on the phone with?” Emily asks.

“Crime scene tech. They are loading up Garcia’s car to take back to Quantico. I think one guy is complaining about you completely destroying the window,” Morgan tells her.

Emily stiffens. “Tell that little bastard to come say that to my face. My son was in the car and I’d have taken the entire damn thing apart to get him out,” she growls, her fury scaring Morgan.

“Hey, easy, Emily. Hotch will set the idiot straight. And if he doesn’t do it verbally, we’ll drag his ass down to the gym for some hand-to-hand combat training,” he finishes with a smile.

Emily relaxes a bit, smiling. “Thanks, Derek. Maybe we can do that anyway.” He gives her a wink.

Hotch walks back over to them. “Morgan, Emily, I need you to go to Garcia’s apartment. Confiscate all her computers, tablets, old phones, anything she could use to get online. See if you can find anything that might have indicated she’d received a threat of some sort or been contacted by someone for technical assistance. I’m sure she’s gotten job offers. Bring any you can find.”

Morgan and Emily nod. Emily looks at JJ.

“Call the pediatrician and let me know when you can get Henry in to see him. I’ll be there, okay?”

“Okay. Good luck with your search. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

The two exchange a quick kiss and hug. Hotch moves over to stand beside JJ as Morgan and Emily leave.

“JJ, how much do you know about Garcia’s past?”

JJ turns and smiles at Hotch. “I know what she wants me to know. What she wants any of us to know. What exactly did she hack?”

Hotch chuckles. “The question is what  _didn’t_   she hack. But she never did anything other than look. The hacking was a way of making her feel alive after losing her parents. It was a world to get lost in.”

“I know that. They don’t. Why would they take an FBI employee if they just needed a hacker, Hotch? She’s a high risk target.”

“She’s the best there is.”

“Okay. But how do they know that?”

Hotch thinks a moment. “When Rossi calls tell him to get Kevin to look for deaths of recent known hackers. Maybe they tried to get someone else but that person failed.”

“And if Garcia refuses to help them?”

Hotch doesn’t answer. He doesn’t need to. They both know the answer.

* * *

 

Kevin sits down at Garcia’s computer station. Last time he had done this he was trying find information to get her fired, perhaps even arrested. This time he was doing it to save her life. Rossi pats him on the shoulder.

“You can do it, Kev,” he encourages.

“Yes. Yes, I can,” Kevin agrees.

He starts up Garcia’s computers and immediately sets scans running on them to see her most recent searches, emails and data downloads. He also scans for any Trojan horses or other spyware.

“Do you think they would have tried to reach her here first?” Reid questions.

Rossi shrugs. “Hard to say. She plays online games. They may have made initial contact that way.”

Kevin’s eyes never leave the screen he is working on. “I’ll need her home computers and other electronics. I can scan those, too.”

Rossi nods. “I’m sure Hotch has sent Morgan after them. We’ll get them to you. Kevin, did she mention any job offers lately?”

“No. Wait, yes. Homeland Security wanted her but she told them no. That was about a month ago.”

“Homeland Security…they would want her ability to look into financials and the systems of any companies or organizations that could have ties to terrorism,” Reid points out.

“And if someone got wind about her skills they could want them, too,” Rossi states.

“Um, guys, if you’re going to speculate can you do it somewhere else. It’s really not helping set my mind at ease,” Kevin tells them.

Rossi pats him on the shoulder. “Sorry, kid.”

Rossi and Reid leave the room and head towards the conference room. It was time to start profiling Garcia with what they know and hope Kevin or the others will bring information to help them find their friend.


	6. Chapter 6

Garcia turns as the door opens. Two men in Halloween masks walk in. She backs up into the corner farthest from them. One man trains a gun on her while the other plugs in a laptop and places it on the table. He turns it on and points to the chair.

“Sit down.”

Garcia takes a shuddering breath and moves to the chair. “ _If there is internet I can maybe send a message_ ,” she tells herself.

“Good girl. Now, we need you to prove you want to keep the brat alive.” His voice is soft, a contrast to the bloody demon mask he wears.

“H—how do I do that?”

“Send a message to Agent Hotchner. Tell him you are fine and that everything will be explained on Monday. Tell him if he wants to keep things fine, he will call off his dogs or I will send him the brats fingers.”

Garcia sobs. “No! Don’t hurt Henry! Please don’t hurt him!”

He taps the top edge of the computer screen calmly. “Then send the message.”

Garcia opens up the email program. Her eyes narrow as she sees her own inbox. “How did you…,” she trails off. The only way they could have this is if they have someone inside the FBI. She steels herself and opens a new email. She types out the message exactly as he told her. She looks up at him as she finishes. When he nods, she hits send.

“Good girl. I can see you’re going to be quite an asset to this mission.” He lifts up the computer and smashes it onto the ground. Garcia jumps.

The two men leave the room. The demon-masked man pauses then tosses Garcia’s coat back into the room. She gratefully grabs it and puts it on.

“Thank you.”

The demon-masked man nods and shuts the door. Garcia starts to pace, reminding herself all she has learned in her time at the BAU.

“ _Okay, the guys have talked about this. He’s giving me a reward to make me grateful to him. It reinforces his power and makes me seem submissive. The more ‘favors’ he does for me the more I come to depend on him. And then he has me. No! Not going to happen scary masked man! I may pretend to be your little servant girl but I won’t be! I will keep Henry safe but that’s all. You don’t control me, you bastard. You don’t!”_

Garcia drops down into the chair. She wishes she felt as brave as the words in her head sounded. She decides the next time they come in she will demand to see Henry before doing anything for them. She feels the tears well up in her eye.

“ _Jayje and Emily are going to hate me_ ,” she thinks as the tears finally break free and roll down her cheeks. “ _I so totally suck as a fairy godmother_.”

Watching on closed circuit TV, her captor smiles. “She is starting to break. Soon she will do whatever we ask.”

* * *

 

In Garcia’s office, Kevin notices an automatic email alert telling him Hotch is out of the office. Confused, he maximizes Garcia’s Outlook and sees she had just sent a message to the unit chief.

“What the hell?” he mutters.

He opens the file and reads it, his eyes widening in confusion. He grabs the phone and remembers he has no idea how to reach Hotch. He races out of the room towards the bullpen.

“ROSSI! REID! WHERE ARE YOU?”

The two men race out of the conference room, terrified by the analyst’s obvious panic.

“What is it, Kevin?” Rossi demands.

“An email. Garcia sent Hotch an email. Just now. From her work email.”

Rossi and Reid exchange a look as Rossi whips out his phone and hits speed dial, putting the call on speaker. “Hotch? You gotta hear this. Garcia sent you an email.”

“What did the email say?” Reid asks Kevin.

“It told Hotch that she’s okay and to call off his dogs or he’d get Henry’s fingers sent to him.”

“Henry? But he’s with JJ and Emily!” Reid exclaims.

“But Garcia may not know that,” Rossi points out.

“Kevin, see if you can figure out how she sent the email. Track it to its source. If you need to get on my computer do it,” Hotch tells him.

“Right.” Kevin runs to Hotch’s office and takes his CPU back to Garcia’s office so he can run all the searches he needs.

“Hotch, Penelope will do anything to keep Henry safe. Anything,” JJ points out.

“I know,” Hotch replies. “Rossi, Morgan and Emily are at Garcia’s right now getting her electronics. I’m going to have them report to the BAU as soon as they can. JJ and I will remain here and—”

“No, Hotch. What we need to find Pen is there. We need to be there, too,” JJ insists.

“JJ, tomorrow you will take Henry for a check up and then you can report in. Until then you and I will stay here,” Hotch says with finality.

“Hotch,” JJ says, her voice steady despite the tremor in her stomach, “if they want to keep using Henry as a pawn they may feel the need to try to take him. He will be safer on Quantico than he will be here.”

Hotch stares at her. Reid and Rossi exchange a look. They all know that JJ is correct. Hotch finally nods.

“Pack what you need.”

JJ turns and runs upstairs to pack a bag for Henry and collect her son. Within 10 minutes Hotch is driving the SUV while JJ sits in the back with Henry, praying for her friend.


	7. Chapter 7

Kevin stares at the screen. He shakes his head. “It can’t be. There’s no way…” He hits several more keys, checks several more lines of information. He sighs. “It is. It’s our fucking computer.”

With a heavy heart, he heads to the conference room, arriving just as Hotch and JJ do.

“Kevin, do you have anything?” Hotch asks.

“Yes, sir. But you’re not going to like it.”

Hotch can see the pain in Kevin’s eyes. He nods and gestures towards the room where Rossi and Reid have started a timeline of Garcia’s life.

“Kevin, what did you find?”

“Do you remember a few years ago when an audit found a bunch of laptops missing?” Hotch nods. “One of the missing laptops was used to send the email.”

“Shit,” Rossi mutters. “So whoever had that laptop had a direct link to anyone’s email.”

“Could they have been tracking Garcia’s activity for a while then?” Reid asks.

Kevin nods. “Unfortunately because of me…yes.”

“Because of you? What the hell does that mean?” JJ asks.

Kevin is clearly uncomfortable. He begins to pace. “When Penelope was being investigated I had to turn off a bunch of the extra fail-safe’s she had installed on her computer. Walls, back alleys, rerouters, things she had created to keep your information safe after what happened to Elle Greenaway. I was ordered to wipe those out and she was ordered to never put them back on,” he drops into a chair. “You all meant so much to her she put her job on the line to protect you. She then knew with those protections gone she would be better able to keep you safe from inside the FBI than by losing her job. So, she followed the orders. Your unsub was able to access her computer thanks to the software on the missing laptop.”

“Are you telling me we still have the same security protocols and programs on our computers now as on the ones that are missing?” Hotch demands furiously.

“Yes. Granted some programs have been upgraded but a basic hacker could make the necessary changes to the laptop to allow them to interface,” he explains.

“Would they have needed Garcia to patch into all our systems?”

Kevin shrugs. “She could do that easily. Again, any hacker with that laptop would have a field day with our systems. If they wanted Penelope I’d have to believe it would be for something more than this.”

“Have you notified your boss of the breach?” Hotch asks.

Kevin nods. “Yes, sir. As soon as I saw what I was dealing with and before the final confirmation came across. He’s ordering in 2 more techs to specifically monitor any incoming transmissions. A tracer will bounce off each email to check it’s origin against the list of missing computer IP numbers.”

Hotch nods. “Good.”

“Hotch, something has been bugging me about Garcia’s email,” Reid states.

“What?”

“It said that everything would be explained on Monday. I think it’s safe to assume that the clock is ticking on whatever their plans are,” Reid points out.

The agents in the room exchange a look. Reid was probably right which means they had less than 48 hours to find and rescue Garcia.

* * *

 

“Who the hell needs 15 phones?” Emily asks as she puts another on in the tote she has found.

“I bet every time a new model comes out she buys it to see how much better it is than the last one,” Morgan answers her.

“Yeah, but recycle some. Geez. Oh, look! What a surprise! Sixteen phones.”

Morgan laughs and continues looking at the various letters and papers on Garcia’s desk. He lifts one up and frowns.

“Baby girl, why the hell didn’t you accept this?” he whispers.

In his hand is the letter from the Office of Homeland Security. Had she taken the job, Garcia would have been heading up a specialized hacker team. They would be charged with tracing money, people, and organizations with ties to terrorist activities. She’d be on the cyber frontline of the War on Terrorism. Hell, she’d be the general leading the charge.

Emily had heard his whispered comment. She reads the letter over his shoulder. “She didn’t take it because of us, Morgan.”

He slowly nods. “Yeah, I know. More proof she’s crazy.”

Emily grins and pats him on the shoulder. Once they are satisfied they have everything electronic in Garcia’s apartment they head back down to Morgan’s car. As they get everything stowed, Emily glances back up towards Garcia’s apartment. She freezes.

“Morgan, didn’t you turn her light off?”

“You know I did. I nearly dropped the box I was carrying to do it.”

“Then why is it back on?”

His eyes follow Emily’s. The agents exchange a look and draw their guns. They make their way back into the building.

* * *

At 7 a.m. Saturday, the door to Garcia’s prison opens again. The two men bring in a new laptop, once again setting it on the table.

“We need a file, Ms. Garcia. You will retrieve it for us.”

“Not until I see that Henry is okay,” Garcia says bravely.

“The boy is sleeping. If I wake him, I will not make it pleasant for him,” the man tells her. His voice is calm. As if passing on a weather report. It is obvious he has no regard for human life. Garcia is not sure how much she can push him but she needs to know Henry is okay.

“Bring him to me. Let him stay with me and I’ll do whatever you want.”

The man starts to laugh, it is an eerily pleasant sound. “You amuse me, Ms. Garcia. But you see, you will do whatever I want anyway. Or his blood is on your hands. Do you really think your friends will be so eager to save you if his body turns up?”

Garcia stares at the masked man. Though his voice is gentle and he smiles, his eyes are like those of a shark: devoid of emotion. Suppressing a shudder of fear, Garcia sits down at the table, her hands poised over the keys.

“Good girl. I think you deserve a reward.”

He snaps his fingers towards the door. Garcia hears a shuffling sound. When two men appear in the door, she gasps. He smiles.

“I believe you know Agent Prentiss.”


	8. Chapter 8

Hotch dials Morgan a third time. What the hell is going on? He heads down to Garcia’s office. “Kevin, I need you to pull up Garcia’s phone tracing program and find Morgan and Prentiss.”

“Yes, sir.” It takes him a second but he finally gets it running. “They are both at Penelope’s apartment.”

Hotch frowns and shakes his head. “Something’s wrong. They should have been finished there long ago. If those dots move, call me.”

“Yes, sir.”

Hotch races down the hall to the others. “Their phones are still at Garcia’s.”

“Then why aren’t they answering?” JJ asks, her stomach in knots.

“Rossi, you’re with me. Reid, JJ keep working on the profile.”

“Hotch, if Emily’s- -” JJ starts

“JJ, stay here with Henry. If something has happened it’s what she would want you to do,” Reid points out gently.

JJ opens her mouth to argue but in her heart she knows he is right. She finally nods. Hotch and Rossi leave. JJ turns and looks at the board dissecting her best friend’s life.

“I don’t think we’re looking at this right,” JJ says.

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s think about this: these guys have all the time in the world to take her when she’s alone. Why take her when she has Henry? When we’re on our way to meet her? They could have waited until today and we may not have known until Monday she was missing.”

“That’s true,” Reid says, staring at the information in front of him. “But maybe they had to do it this weekend. We need to know if there’s anything happening this weekend that won’t happen any other time.”

He heads out of the conference room to get Kevin working on another search. JJ paces until she hears Henry start to cry. She walks over and picks him up.

“Hi, Little Man. You’ve had a rough few hours, haven’t you? I promise it will get better soon.” She gives him a kiss on the cheek. “We’ll get your fairy godmother back and everything will be just fine.

Her mind wanders to the fact that this will be Henry’s first Christmas. She smiles as she knows Emily will go nuts with toys if she’s not reigned in. She feels her phone buzz on her hip. She lifts it and sees a text from Emily.

“Thank God. Where have you—OH GOD! REID!”

* * *

 

Garcia stares at her friend. Emily’s lip is bleeding and there is a large bruise on her temple. Her hands and feet are bound but it is a moot point as she is unconscious.

“Are you ready to send a little message now?”

Garcia tears her eyes away from Emily and looks up at the man. She nods. “Good. Tell Agent Hotchner that Agent Jareau just got his last warning. If he wants to see the three of you again he needs to stop trying to find us.” He stops. “Well, go on. Send it.”

Garcia quickly types out the message and hits send. He grabs the computer and, like the first one, smashes it on the ground.

“Well done. Now, we’ll take you to a room where you can get some rest. You have very important work to do.”

“Will you take me to Henry now?” She begs.

He smiles cruelly. “No, Henry has his Mommy now. He won’t need you.” He waves his hands and the men drag Emily away.

“EMILY! NO! WAIT!”

He lifts an eyebrow. “Control yourself, Ms. Garcia. I’d hate for Agent Prentiss to have to get a lesson on your behalf.”

Garcia bites her tongue, knowing that at least Emily will be able to take care of Henry. She looks away.

“Thank me,” he insists.

She looks back at him. “What?”

“Thank me for getting Henry’s mother for him,” he stares into her eyes, gauging the amount of control he has over her.

Garcia’s lip quivers but she steels her shoulders. “Th—thank you for getting Em--Emily for Hen--Henry,” she stutters out.

He smiles. She is getting to be quite compliant. That will make things much easier. “You have been such a pleasant surprise, Ms. Garcia. Let’s hope you continue to be as helpful to us. Come along now.”

He leads Garcia from the room, his assistant with the gun trailing behind them. She tries to figure out where Emily and Henry may have been taken but they only take her to the next room over. In the room there is a single bed, a small table and a hardback chair. Garcia shivers. It’s not very warm.

“We’ll bring you some breakfast in a few minutes. Eat and then get some sleep. You’re going to be a very busy little hacker soon.”

The men back out of the room and close the door. Garcia hears a sturdy lock engaging. She sits down on the chair and begins to cry.

“I’m so sorry, Emily. So sorry, Jayje. I’m scared, guys. Please, please save us soon. I know you will. You’ll save all 3 of us before these bastards get what they want. I know you will.”


	9. Chapter 9

Myron Phillipe removes his mask and watches the technical analyst on closed circuit TV. The man beside him also removes his mask.

“When do we have her do it?”

“Not until after midnight. It has to happen then so it’s not discovered until Monday,” Phillipe explains.

The man smiles. “We’re going to be so fucking rich! How do you know she can do it?”

“I’ve been tracking her for many years. She’s been wasted as an FBI stooge. I plan to remind her of the fun of illegal hacking. And show her the profitability of hacking the right systems.”

He smiles, picturing a future with Garcia. He didn’t really want to scare her. Myron had few equals in the world. She could be the only woman who can match his technological intellect.

“The world will be ours, Jackie. It  _will_   be _ours_ ,” he brags to his man.

* * *

 

Hotch and Rossi had found Morgan’s car outside Garcia’s apartment. They could see the bags of computer equipment in it and get a sick feeling in their stomachs. They are about to make entry into Garcia’s apartment when the chief’s phone rings. He sees it is Reid.

“Yes, Reid?”

“Hotch, JJ just got a text from Emily’s phone,” he says, clearly upset. “Emily and Morgan are in trouble, Hotch. It…it doesn’t look good.”

“We’re about to enter Garcia’s apartment. I’ll call you back in a few.”

Hotch hangs up his phone. He doesn’t need to say anything to Rossi, the older agent knowing something bad is waiting for them beyond this door. Hotch counts down to 1 and kicks in the door. Rossi rushes in, sweeping the room with his firearm. Hotch covers him from the door, then moves to the bathroom.

“Clear,” he whispers.

“Clear,” Rossi echoes from the kitchenette area.

As one, they move towards the bedroom. Rossi nods towards the bed. Someone is under the covers. He steps closer and grabs the end of the comforter. He looks to Hotch who nods, gun trained on the bed. Rossi rips the blanket off…to reveal Morgan!

“Derek!” Rossi hollers.

He feels the man’s throat, breathing a sigh of relief when he feels a pulse. He pulls out a pocket knife and cuts away the duct tape on Morgan’s wrists and ankles.

Hotch pulls out his phone. “This is Unit Chief Hotchner. I need an ambulance and a crime scene unit dispatched to this location immediately.” He gives Garcia’s address to the FBI dispatcher.

“He’s got no injuries I can see, Hotch. He might have been drugged,” Rossi reports.

“They were packed and ready to leave. Why did they come back up here?” Hotch asks, looking around.

“Maybe one last look?” Rossi suggests.

Hotch shakes his head. “They wouldn’t have left if they thought they’d missed anything. Something drew them back in.”

“The only thing I can think of would be if they saw someone in- -”

Rossi stops speaking as Morgan moans. The two agents step towards him as his eyes start to flutter open.

“Come on, Morgan. Come back to us,” Hotch encourages.

A few minutes later Morgan’s eyes finally do open. His two friends can see the drug-induced haze in them, confirming Rossi’s suspicion. Rossi leans close.

“Derek, what happened?”

“Pre- -Prentiss?”

“She’s not here, Morgan. What happened to her?”

Morgan frowns, trying to clear his head. “She was…there was a light…came back to see. I entered…nothing.” His eyes roll back in his head.

Hotch and Rossi stare at each other. Two members of their team were now missing, another is hurt. And they were no closer to understanding why than they were last night. They are interrupted by the arrival of the EMT’s. They step back into the living room to give them room to work on Morgan. Something catches Rossi’s eye. He pulls out a glove and bends down to pick up Emily’s phone.

“Hotch.”

“Reid said JJ got a text.”

Rossi uses a pen to punch the buttons to pull up the last text. His face pales as he sees the two pictures that were sent to JJ. He turns the phone around to show Hotch. The first shows Morgan bound and in the bed. The second shows a bloodied and bound Emily on the living room floor. The men look around as if to confirm Emily really isn’t there.

“They took her to use against Garcia,” Rossi states.

Hotch nods. “She was probably demanding to see Henry. They couldn’t keep it from her long that they didn’t have him.”

“Then why take Emily? She’ll tell Garcia the truth with just a look,” Rossi points out.

“If she’s able. Something tells me they’ll make sure Emily can’t give away the truth. Now Garcia will feel responsible for the two most important people in JJ’s life.”

As the EMT’s leave with Morgan, Hotch pulls his phone again. “This is Hotchner again. I need a security team to meet an ambulance at GW hospital. Maintain full protection around SSA Derek Morgan at all times. Thank you.”

Rossi looks at him. “Do you really think that’s necessary?”

“Don’t you?” Hotch counters as they leave the apartment. They pause to get the electronics out of Morgan’s car and head back to Quantico.

When they arrive they find JJ pacing the bullpen. She stops and stares at them. When she sees the look in their eyes she starts to shake her head. Rossi takes the electronics down to Kevin. Hotch approaches JJ and lays a hand on her shoulder.

“JJ, she wasn’t there. We think they took her to use her against Garcia. And if that’s the case she’s okay.” JJ just nods, trying to convince herself that Hotch is correct. “Morgan is on his way to the hospital. They drugged him. We need everyone focused. Okay?”

JJ just nods again. “Yes. Right. I can be focused. I have to be. I called Matilda and she came in to take Henry down to the day care center. She won’t leave here with him until this is over.”

“Good. Let’s go see what we can get off Garcia’s electronics.”

The two head down to Garcia’s lair. As they enter they see Kevin, Rossi and Reid all turn to look at them.

“You got another email, Hotch,” Reid tells him.

Hotch and JJ step forward to read the message on the screen. JJ bites back a groan. Hotch stares at Kevin.

“Is it from the same computer?”

“No, sir. But it’s from another one of the missing ones.”

“So, what? This guy has a stash of them?” Hotch bellows.

Kevin jumps. “I- -I- -I- -I- -”

“Easy, Hotch,” Rossi cautions. He lays a protective hand on Kevin’s shoulder. “Kevin, how could he have gotten access to multiple units?”

Kevin takes a couple of deep breaths, looking at Rossi instead of Hotch. “Well, it was speculated that the computers were lost by the agents at airport security terminals, hotels, etc since you all get tired and can forget things.” He sees Rossi frown. “Not that I think that!” he quickly hedges. “But it was speculated! Then they noticed that the serial numbers on about 10 units were consecutive. That would be way too much of a coincidence so they knew that those had probably been stolen by someone.”

“An agent stealing laptops? To what end?” JJ asks.

“Espionage, to be an ass, to make some extra cash on Ebay, just to name a few reasons,” Reid states.

“So, the unsub has access to our systems and now he has Garcia’s skills. Have we come up with why he may need them before Monday?” Hotch asks.

JJ slowly turns and looks at Hotch. “It’s the end of the year, Hotch. Everyone’s status reports were due Friday. That includes money spent, money allocated, and money confiscated. Also, the number of agents working undercover for each department.”

“And that posts officially tonight at midnight, doesn’t it. That’s why he wants us to think we have until Monday to rescue Garcia. Truth is, we only have until midnight tonight.”

JJ visibly pales. But then she takes a deep breath. “Kevin, have you been able to trace the signal being used to send the emails?”

He rolls his chair to another computer screen. “So far it’s tracked back to Kurdistan. Considering the time frame we’re dealing with from the abductions until now I’d say that’s not the final destination. But FBI computers and phones are built to have multiple relays to prevent traces like we’re doing,” he tells them.

“So you can’t find her,” Hotch concludes.

“I didn’t say that. It can prevent the trace but not completely stop it.”

Even Reid looks confused. “How is that not the same thing?”

Kevin starts to open his mouth to explain, then stops. “Look, I could explain all the technical aspects of this or I could just do the job. We don’t have time for both.”

Hotch takes the hint. “Do the job, Kevin. We’ll be in the conference room.”

The team heads back down to the conference room and stares at the stages of Garcia’s life on the walls. JJ walks over to the reports of Garcia’s arrest for spying.

“Hotch, do you know this Mryon Phillipe?” Hotch shakes his head. “He’s the one that originally found evidence of Pen hacking the government computers. We ran his name and about 5 years ago he fell off the grid. Kevin has a search trying to find him but no go.”

“Was he FBI?”

“Worse. CIA.”

“If he’s the one that arrested Garcia he won’t let her go. She knows him,” Rossi points out.

“He didn’t actually make the arrest,” Reid clarifies. “He alerted his superiors, they alerted us and we made the arrest. He did write the recommendation that we try to turn her rather than imprison her.”

“Every CIA agent has an endgame. It could be that when he saw Garcia all those years ago he decided to monitor her. If he gets her to download all the information tonight he could make some good money selling it,” Hotch notes.

“No offense to us, but we’re small fishes compared to what he could get for CIA information. What do you want to bet they have the same government reports due for upload tonight?” Rossi wagers.

“God, he could sell the names of undercover operatives to the highest bidder overseas,” JJ whispers. “Agents will be marked for death and may never know.”

“Something isn’t right,” Reid says. “He had to know we’d try to find Garcia. He had to know taking Emily would make us even more desperate to stop him. With one call we stop the upload of information and his plan crumbles.”

Hotch slowly nods. “Reid’s right. This has been off from the start. I need to make a call.”

He turns and heads for his office to make a call to Langley, home of the CIA.


	10. Chapter 10

Emily slowly regains consciousness. Her head is pounding, her lip throbbing. She tries to bring her hand up but can’t. Suddenly the memories of what happened flood over her.

“M—Morgan?” she croaks out. No answer.

She takes a deep breath to assess her situation. She is sitting in a wooden chair. Her upper body tied to the back of it. Her wrists are tied to the armrests, her ankles to the legs. A blindfold is tightly bound to her head.

“ _Not good_ ,” she thinks to herself. She tries to loosen the ropes around her legs and ankles but they are securely knotted. When she feels fingers stroke down her cheek sensually she pulls away, the ropes not allowing her to go far. The fingers follow her, continuing their trail down her cheek, over her neck, across her collar bone. She bites her lip, refusing to tell the person to leave her the fuck alone.

“Emily Prentiss. My God you are even prettier than when we first met.”

Emily shudders, trying to place the genteel voice of the man. The first thing she tells herself is he’s not Irish, which only marginally makes her feel safer. The man starts to gently massage her shoulders. She tries to pull away but is again arrested by her bonds. He is amused by her actions.

“Why, I think you were just twenty. On the Dean’s List at Yale; your mother told anyone who would listen. She was very proud of you.”

Emily had relaxed a little more. This was someone from her distant past, not her Interpol past.

“How is your mother, Emily?”

Emily takes a deep breath. “Couldn’t tell you. We’re not close.”

“Oh, Emily, don’t lie to me. I know you have had a strained relationship with her in the past but now things are better between you two. It’s amazing what being a grandparent will do to someone.”

Emily grinds her teeth. “I don’t know what you’ve heard but she and I can barely stand each other. I haven’t seen her in months. I’m not exactly the society girl she wanted.”

He laughs. Emily shivers. The sound is so normal it’s as if they are two old friends meeting for lunch instead of captor and captive.

“Perhaps not. But she’s adapting. Why, she sent an email to your darling Jennifer recently asking about a family Christmas party.” He leans down and whispers in Emily’s ear. “How much do you think your dear old mom would pay to make sure you make it to the festivities?”

Emily laughs sarcastically. “Ha! Ya got change for a twenty?” Inside she is terrified. He’s seen JJ’s emails? How? Who the fuck is this guy? She tries to remember the party he is referencing. Unfortunately she is pretty sure she’d had plenty of wine just to make it through the evening. Most of the parties from those days were a drunken blur.

He gives her a friendly kiss on the cheek. She pulls her face away from him. He smiles. “I bet she’d pay more than that. We’ll have to see. But now I need to go visit Ms. Garcia. She has some work to do.”

“Leave her alone! Don’t you dare hurt her!”

“Hurt her? Oh, my dear Emily, I plan to free her. See you soon.”

His hands grab Emily’s face and he kisses her roughly on the lips, mindless of the painful split in it. Emily grunts as he lets her go, immediately spitting in his general direction. His laughter fades as he leaves the room. Emily is shaking. She takes a few deep breaths trying to calm herself. When that doesn’t work, she starts to profile her captor in her mind.

“ _He’s not going to free her from this. He wants her to do something. If I met him when I was twenty he has to be my age or older. Sounds older, refined. Whatever his game is, he is sure he’s going to win. Is it all just a ransom plot? No, he said Garcia has work to do. That means hacking. I may just be a bonus for him. Or maybe that was just a taunt and I’m here to get Garcia to comply. That makes more sense. What the hell have we fallen into, Pen_?” Emily drops her head onto the back of the chair. “ _Where the hell is Morgan? Please, let him be okay. Please_.”

She is still trying to figure out who her captor is when she senses two people entering the room. She struggles a bit as duct tape is slapped across her mouth, unable to stop the wince of pain as it hits her injury. She hears chains rattling and feels shackles placed around her ankles, as they are untied from the chair. A cuff is placed around her right wrist which is then untied. She tries to fight her captors but one man wraps his arm around her throat, slowly choking her.

“Keep struggling, bitch, and they’ll find your body,” a gruff voice tells her.

The other man forces her right hand towards her left, cuffs it and then frees that wrist from the chair. They force her to her feet and shove her forward. Blindfolded she has to rely on them to guide her, making her feel helpless. It only serves to stoke her anger. Finally they stop her. She has no idea what exactly they are doing but she is sure she’s not going to like it.

* * *

 

Myron puts his mask on and enters Garcia’s room. He sees the analyst sitting in the wooden chair, her uneaten breakfast on the table beside her.

“Breakfast wasn’t to your liking, Ms. Garcia?”

“I want to see Henry and Emily,” she insists, her voice steadier than she feels.

He stares at her a moment, then smiles. “Okay. You can see Emily.”

Garcia is stunned. She had expected him to say no again. He walks over to the doorway and nods to someone out of her line of sight. She hears chains rattle and jumps up as two men shove Emily into the room.

“Emily!”

Emily straightens up when she hears Garcia. She tries to move towards her friend but the two goons stop her.

“Well, there she is,” their captor says calmly. Garcia stares at him. His voice is so calm, so normal. Where is the freaky voiced killer like in the movies? she wonders.

“Please, can I speak with her?”

“Go ahead. But you’ll have to excuse her manners. She won’t be able to respond.” Garcia takes a step towards Emily. He wags a finger at her, as if scolding a child. “Ah, ah, ah…speak, not touch, Ms. Garcia.”

Garcia stops. “Emily…I’m sorry. I tried to protect Henry. I swear I did.”

Emily hears how despondent her friend is. She tries to bring her hands up to rip of the tape on her mouth. Her captors hold her arms down, laughing at her struggle. It was just as Myron had said she would act.

“Emily, I can understand if you never forgive me but know I will do anything to keep him safe. I’m just glad he has you now.”

Emily is fighting her captors with everything she has, trying to alleviate Garcia’s guilt. Myron is getting excited just watching. But he knows he must reassert his control. From his pocket he pulls a retractable baton.

“What…what is that for?” Garcia asks, nervously stepping away from him.

“Taming the shrew,” he answers with a chuckle. He flicks his wrist and extends the baton. Before Garcia can scream a warning he slams the baton into Emily’s knee. Even with the tape, they hear her scream of pain as her leg gives out. Myron looks at his men. “Take her away.” They drag Emily from the room as Garcia bursts into tears. Myron stares at her, smiling. She is breaking nicely. He lifts the baton up for her to look at, waving it tauntingly. “Should I go get Henry now?”

“NO! Please, no! I’ll do whatever you say just don’t hurt him or Emily. Please.”

He smiles and puts the baton back in his pocket. “Remember that when next we speak, Ms. Garcia.”

He turns and walks out of the room. Garcia drops down onto the chair, her tears flowing unrestrained.

* * *

 

When she had been dragged from Garcia’s room, Emily had assumed she would be taken back to the chair she had been tied to. But she can tell they are not going to the same place. She hears a door shut behind them. One of the men rips the tape from her mouth. She can’t stop the scream as it tears her lip open once more. While she is in shock from that act, they shove her to the ground.

“Say hi to Mommy,” one of the men says before kicking her in the stomach. She brings her hands down to protect that area as the other man kicks her in the back. She rolls but no matter which way she turns another boot connects with her body. Finally she just curls into a ball, praying for the pain to end.

She never makes a sound, not willing to give the men the satisfaction. They are disappointed when she finally succumbs to the beating and passes out. They turn off the camera that had captured the entire attack and leave her on the floor of the room. They take the video disk to Myron. He smiles.

“Thank you, boys. I’m sure Ambassador Prentiss will love this little gift from her daughter.”

He uploads the video clip into an email and sends it. He warns the ambassador not to contact the BAU team but he knows she will. The fools will be so worried about a ransom demand they will never realize they’ve missed his true target.

* * *

 

Hotch hangs up the phone and sits back in his chair. After driving a bulldozer through a bunch of brick walls he finally has information on Myron Phillipe. And he doesn’t like it. He is trying to decide what to tell the team when a shadow falls across his desk.

“JJ,” he says softly.

“Hotch, one of Kevin’s searches finished. Someone has been reading our emails for months. They know everything about our team,” she states quietly.

“Everything. Great.”

“That’s not all. Elizabeth Prentiss is on her way in. She received a ransom demand and…and a video. She wanted to email it but if he is still watching our emails he’ll know she contacted us. He told her not to,” JJ finishes, her voice cracking.

Hotch knows the blonde is imagining every twisted thing that could possibly be on the video. He stands and moves to her. “JJ, don’t go down that road. Speculating is only going to tear you apart.”

JJ nods but says nothing more. Her wife and her best friend were in the hands of an unsub who seemed to know more about them than they would have thought possible. Nothing good could come of this situation.

“I need…to go check on Henry,” is all she says. Hotch just nods as the young woman turns and walks out of his office.


	11. Chapter 11

Kevin stares at the computer screen still tracing the two emails Hotch had received. He feels like he is missing something…a major piece of the puzzle that could make the traces faster. He stands and starts to pace.

“Okay, if I was Penelope tracking down and unsub for my hunk of chocolate thunder Morgan what would I be doing?”

“Is this a multiple choice question?” Rossi asks from behind him.

Kevin spins around, his hand at his chest. “SHIT! Geez, Agent Rossi, some warning next time. I’m a little on edge.”

Rossi gives him a grin. “Sorry. Look, Ambassador Prentiss is on her way. She got an email with a video. What will you need to trace it?”

Kevin drops down into his chair. “To trace it with time to actually do us some good…I need Penelope.” He stands and starts to pace again. “When she does these things she is totally in the mind of the bad guy. She takes it as a personal affront when they have something hiding in cyberspace and she can’t get to it. She develops programs on the spot to knock these guys out, electronically speaking. My mind just doesn’t work that way!”

Rossi takes him by the shoulders and stares into his eyes. “Then do it  _her_  way. You’ve just told me what she does. Try it. Kevin, you are the best man to have on this job. Even if you weren’t Garcia’s boyfriend I’d have requested you on this case. I  _know_  you can do this. I know you can see the path to an answer.”

Kevin stares into the dark, confident eyes. It helps to steady him. He slowly nods. “Okay. Her way. Her way. Her…she’s a hacker. And one of the best. She’d hack the highway!” He drops down into his chair and starts to type furiously. Rossi pats him on the shoulder.

“Thatta boy!” Rossi stares for a moment, then shakes his head. “ _I have_ no _idea what the hell he’s doing,_ ” he thinks to himself, “ _but hopefully it will give us the break we need_.”

* * *

 

Garcia stops pacing as the door to her room opens once again. Her masked tormentor enters, a stack of file folders in his hands. He places them on the table and gestures towards them. She doesn’t move.

“What are they?” she asks.

She sees him smile through the mask. “It’s your life, Ms. Garcia. I’ve been watching you for many years now. You were so impressive. Hacking files and systems no one believed   _could_   be hacked. You were free to do what you want when you want. You weren’t restrained by rules and regulations. Wasn’t it intoxicating?”

She stares at him. Something tells her to answer him honestly. “Yes. To a point. It was thrilling but scary. And when FBI agents knocked down my door I knew I had made a huge mistake. I don’t want to make any more mistakes. I play by the rules now.”

He chuckles and pulls out a file from the stack. “Do you really? So what was this suspension regarding locked files on your computer?” Her eyes widen. “Or what about just a few months ago when you illegally traced the emails, texts and phone calls of a fellow agent? Seems you still enjoy the thrill of the illegal world, Ms. Garcia.”

“No! It wasn’t…it wasn’t like that! Those times were to protect my team! Before, when I was younger, it was about…about finding life again. I used it to heal from pain by hiding away from society without completely hiding from society.” She starts to pace again. “Okay, I know that sounds nuts but it makes sense in my mind,” her hands are waving frantically, trying to help her figure out a way to explain herself. She stops and stares at the man. “I’m not hiding from the world anymore. I like my life just the way it is!”

“Ah, yes, your life,” he chuckles as if it is an amusing joke. “Your life as an FBI stooge. I’ve seen what they ask you to do.” He lifts up folders one by one and tosses them at her as he speaks. “Search for medical records not yet public record. Is a serial rapist accessing porn sites? Who has a sealed record that can be illegally unsealed? Oh, and this is a fun one, what did Spencer Reid look like in his high school yearbook? Tell me, is that kind of hacking really satisfying you?”

Garcia nods. “Yes. I am making a difference in the world. I’m doing good.”

He steps closer, his voice modulating and taking on a hypnotic, sexy tone. “What if I can show you a better way? What if I could show you how to really use your abilities to affect change?” He stops, his face inches from hers. He brings a hand up to her cheek. “I can give you the world, Ms. Garcia. If you see an injustice, you can fix it. If you see a wrong, you can make it right. And all without worrying about oversight committees, legalities, and all the other rules that bind your abilities. Imagine if the information highway was truly yours to police?”

As much as she hates to admit it, the things he says are extremely attractive to Garcia. She loves when she helps the team bring in the bad guy. But so often she gets frustrated by things she  _could_   do if only she were allowed.

“I…I don’t want to hurt anyone,” she whispers.

He brings his other hand up to cradle her face. “Never. We will only help, not hurt. I promise you.”

Garcia stares into his eyes. They seem sincere. There was a word for this kind of person, one she had heard all the profilers use but she can’t remember it. What she does know, is her only chance to stop him is to join him.

“What do I have to do?” she asks.

He smiles, believing he has her under his spell. He offers her his arm. “Come, my princess. It’s time for you to become queen of the world.”

She takes his arm and he leads her to another room, this one filled with computers. “Your throne room, my queen.”

She smiles at him as he leads her to a computer. He holds her chair for her as she sits and then scoots her in.

“ _A perfect gentleman_ ,” she thinks. “ _A perfect gentleman with a homicidal streak and freaky bad taste in Halloween masks_.”

He slips a piece of paper in front of her. “Get in there. Find the file I’ve listed and download it.” He kisses the top of her head. “Show me how wonderful you are.”

Garcia knows this is a test. It still turns her stomach to see what he has asked her to download. She takes a deep breath and begins to hack that database which contains the files of the top brass at the Office of Homeland Security.

* * *

 

Emily moans as she starts to come around. She lies still for a moment, trying to figure out if anything is broken. Once she is sure she is just bruised and bloody, she lifts her hands and rips off her blindfold. She looks down at the knee that took the baton. Her kneecap is out of place. She places her hands on either side of her patella. She takes a deep breath and holds it. She grits her teeth.

“One. Two. THREE!” On three she pops it back into place, grimacing at the pain but refusing to scream out. She takes a second to let her knee recover then forces herself to her feet and limps to the door. She tries the handle and as she expected, it’s locked. Besides the door, there are no other exits.

She is in a small room, maybe 15’ x 15’. She sits against the wall facing the door. She drops her head to her knees. Her whole body aches, her head still pounding though for some reason the men had not bothered to assault it.

“Damn good thing I’m not claustrophobic,” Emily mutters.

As she’s glancing around again a red flash catches the corner of her eye. She turns, searching the ceiling for it. After a moment it flashes again. She realizes someone is watching her. She lifts her hands up…and gives the camera both middle fingers. For some reason, the childish act makes her feel better.

With nothing more to do, she can only wait and think.

“ _Jennifer, I love you. I know you and the team will find me. I know it. Hopefully Henry is keeping your mind off things. Hopefully I’ll be home soon and we can discuss Thanks- -”_

Her thoughts stop as she suddenly recalls the words of the men who had beaten her. She drops her head to her knees again.

“ _Oh, God…Mother…they sent a video to Mother. And if she’s seen it, Jen’s seen it. I’ll fucking kill them for scaring the two most important women in my life. I’ll kill them_.”

* * *

 

After the first kick, Elizabeth Prentiss had walked out of the conference room. JJ had stayed there the full 10 minutes. Rossi, Reid and Hotch watch her. Her eyes never waver from the TV screen, she never even blinks. When it ends she turns to them, her face completely emotionless.

“Is Kevin tracing the email?” she asks, her voice flat.

Rossi nods. “Yes. He also thinks he figured out a way to cut through some of the bounces built into the program. Don’t ask me how but he has.”

“Good. I’m going to check on Elizabeth.” JJ walks out of the room.

Hotch looks to Rossi and Reid. “We need to talk about my call to the CIA.” He steps over and closes the door to the bullpen. As the case had progressed, other agents had been ordered to report in but he did not want all his information public knowledge. “Myron Phillipe was reported killed by insurgents in Afghanistan 5 years ago. However, there was no body and they could never get anyone to confirm his death. Two years ago one of his protégé’s went missing in Iraq. Jackson Walters was found two months later by a team of Army Rangers. By all accounts, he was a changed man. He took early retirement and 6 months ago disappeared. At the time it was assumed he killed himself and his body just hadn’t been found. Then last month facial recognition software captured him at New York’s LaGuardia airport. He was with a man believed to be Phillipe.”

“So both men are alive, both have backgrounds in espionage, and both probably have funds and identities hidden away to use. Should be a piece of cake to stop them,” Rossi says.

“Then where do we start?”

The three men turn to see Morgan standing at the door to the hallway.

“What are you doing here?” Hotch demands.

“I signed out A.M.A.* No way am I going to be laying around in a hospital bed with Emily missing,” he states with finality.

Hotch stares a moment, then nods his head. “Good. Reid, get him up to speed. Rossi, check in with Kevin. I’m going to check back with my contact at Langley.”

* * *

 

JJ finds out from one of the agents running diagnostics on Reid’s computer that Elizabeth had gone down in the elevator. JJ is sure she knows where she will find her mother-in-law. JJ gets in the elevator, hitting the button for the lobby. As it descends, and since she is in private, she finally lets her fear take her for a moment. She leans against the wall and buries her face in her hands, still refusing to cry lest she be unable to stop.

“ _Where are you, baby? What the hell is happening to you and Pen? Please, please hang on for us, honey. We’ll find you. We’ll find you both. I promise. God, I’m so scared_.”

  
As the elevator comes to a stop, she stands up straight again. She unconsciously straightens the shirt she wears and heads towards the day care center. As she enters Matilda smiles at her and nods towards the crib area. JJ can’t help but smile.

Elizabeth is sitting in a rocking chair, Henry cradled in her arms. He sucks on his fist as she sings him a lullaby. Though it is not the one Emily usually sings it has the same affect on the little boy. He is falling quickly to sleep. As it ends, JJ walks over.

“That was beautiful, Elizabeth. I can see where Emily gets her way with Henry,” she says sincerely.

Elizabeth smiles at her. “Thank you. He really is a sweet little boy.”

JJ nods. “Yes, he is. What language were you singing in?”

“Portuguese. It was what I spoke growing up,” she explains.

“Really? But I thought Emily said your parents were American?”

“They were. But Foreign Service has been the family business for many years. We lived in Portugal and had Portuguese nannies for the first five years of my life. I barely spoke English,” she says with a chuckle. “But I guess it all served me and Emily well. We both have a knack for languages.”

JJ sits in a chair beside Elizabeth. “Emily sure does. And if Henry keeps getting lullaby’s in other languages he may, too.”

“I hope so.” They sit in silence for a moment. Elizabeth then looks at JJ. “It’s not good, is it?”

JJ rubs her hands together. “No. But we’ve got some leads. Elizabeth, I don’t think they really care about ransoming Emily off. I think it is just something they are doing to make us focus on her instead of Penelope.”

“I see. And what does your team think?” she asks stiffly.

“They think the same thing but they love me too much to tell me that to my face,” she answers with a slight grin.

Elizabeth manages a chuckle. “I can believe that. What are you going to do?”

JJ stands. “I’m going to kiss my son. I’m going to kiss my mother-in-law. And then I’m going to help find my wife and best friend.”

Elizabeth nods. “I always knew Emily did right by finding you.”

JJ gives Elizabeth and Henry a kiss then heads back upstairs, her mind and emotions a little steadier. As she exits the elevator she sees Kevin racing down the hallway.

“Kevin! What is it?”

“I think Penny just hacked Homeland Security!”

“What? How? Why do you think that?”

“Because she’s the only one that could do what has been done. And she left a trail of invisible breadcrumbs!”

“Uh, what the hell is an ‘invisible breadcrumb’?”

“See, anything you do on computers and in cyberspace leaves a trail. But Penny is so good she can erase that trail. There are  _maybe_  five people in the country that can do that. Maybe in the  _world_! It had to be Penelope!”

JJ smiles. “Kevin, you are a genius! Keep following her invisible trail. I’ll let the others know.”

He nods and races back down the hallway. JJ heads to the conference room, a spring in her step that had been missing. She opens the door and is shocked to see Morgan.

“Derek! What are you doing here? Are you okay?”

He looks at her, guilt in his eyes. “I’m fine. JJ, I’m so sorry I didn’t pro—”

“Don’t, Derek. If they got the drop on both of you they were good.” She walks over and lays a hand on his arm. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

He smiles at her, gratefully.

JJ turns to everyone. “Kevin thinks Pen just hacked Homeland Security,” she says excitedly. She explains why this is actually a good thing.

“So, Kevin can track her even though she didn’t leave a trail?” Reid asks. He turns to Hotch. “And you wonder why I hate technology.”

Hotch almost grins. “Rossi, check in with Kevin and see if he needs anything from us or from the tech department. If he needs it, he gets it. No questions asked.” Rossi nods and heads out. “Reid, if Phillipe is our guy, where has he been for the last 5 years. And where has Walters been. We need answers. I want you and Morgan to head to Langley. Chief Reginald Cervantes is expecting you. Feel free to call him on any bullshit. We need answers and we need them now.”

The two men leave. Hotch turns to JJ. She raises a hand to stop his next comment.

“I know, Hotch. The ransom is a ruse. Beating Emily is a way of distracting us. I’m okay.”

He smiles at her. “Sometimes I forget how strong you are. I’m sorry.”

She nods, grinning. “No apology needed. That ability to seem vulnerable helps with the media sharks. If I’m good enough to fool a profiler I must be worth keeping around, right?”

He nods. “Definitely. Jennifer, we’ve all taken naps. Don’t take this the wrong way but you look like you’re about to fall on your face. Why don’t you go lay down for a little while. I promise you I will let you know the minute we have anything.”

JJ starts to argue, then stops. If she is too worn out she won’t do Emily any good. “I’ll be on the couch in my office.”

Hotch nods and squeezes her arm comfortingly as she walks away. In her office JJ moves to her closet. She was still wearing the clothes she had worn home on the plane the night before. She decides to at least change shirts. She runs a hand down the change of clothes Emily keeps in JJ’s office.

“Oh, Em. I miss you.”

She kneels down and pulls out Emily’s spare gym bag. She digs into it and pulls out an old Yale sweatshirt. JJ pulls off her blouse and pulls on the sweatshirt before moving to her desk. She lifts up the picture of Emily, Henry and her from just after he was born. She takes it over and sits it on the coffee table so she can look at it until she falls asleep and so it will be the first thing she sees when she wakes up.

“I love you, baby.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *A.M.A. = Against Medical Advice


	12. Chapter 12

Emily looks up as the door to her prison opens. Three men walk in wearing Halloween masks. She stands, her knee stiff and swollen.

“Oh aren’t you three twisted little puppies,” she says sarcastically.

She watches as one man sets up a video camera on a tripod. Emily knows this means her mother and her friends are probably going to be getting another video soon. And Emily is going to be the very reluctant star.

“I might be chained but I’m not going to be easy pickings,” she warns them.

One man smiles and pulls out an expandable baton. She shows no fear. Another man makes a show of putting on brass knuckles. She raises her eyes as if bored but thinks,

“ _So much for not marking my face_.”

The third man just stands behind the camera but she doesn’t fool herself into believing he won’t get in on the fun. A voice from the hallway surprises her.

“I’m sure your mother knows a fine plastic surgeon, Emily.” It is the man that had taunted her earlier. He steps into the doorway, demon mask in place. “Oh, wait, I know she does. Your dear Jennifer has an appointment with him in December. Nasty business dealing with explosives. Tell me, ever wondered what would have happened had she been hit with a bigger piece of the building? You’d have been attending a funeral not a wedding.”

Emily says nothing and her face betrays nothing. Many times she had contemplated the “what if’s” of JJ’s injury. She would not allow this man to force her to dwell on them now. He wants to get a rise out her but she’d been put up against better torturers than him. He was not going to get what he wanted.

“You really are the strong silent type. But I know your mother wants to hear from you this time, Emily. Please, make her happy. Otherwise, she may have to hear from Ms. Garcia.”

Emily’s eyes narrow. Her instincts tell her he won’t hurt Garcia because he needs her. Of course, he’s a sociopath so she wouldn’t put it past him to hurt Garcia just to get the satisfaction his twisted soul craves. He laughs, knowing she is trying to decide what to do.

“Make Mommy proud, Emily.”

The man with the baton steps forward. She readies herself. When he swings she ducks and brings her arms up to deliver a blow to his sternum. Her shackles restrict her footwork, frustrating her a bit. But she still follows up the sternum hit with an elbow to the back of the man’s head. As he stumbles, she turns towards the other man…and her face meets his brass knuckles.

Fireworks explode in her head but she manages to block his follow up. And slam her face into his, shattering his nose. The man howls in pain and falls to the ground.

She turns her attention back to the man with the baton. He is moving more carefully. He understands now that Emily will not be an easy target, even cuffed and shackled. He twirls the baton and slowly circles to his left. She moves to keep him in her sight, which puts her back to the camera man.

Too late she realizes what she’s done. A club slams into her lower back, dropping her to her knees. She tries to figure out where the man behind her is and gets the baton onto her left shoulder. She winces and drops down so she’s on all fours now. The men alternate hitting her with the club and the baton until she is motionless on the floor. They step back as their leader steps in.

“The infamous Prentiss strength. Very, very impressive. So sad it ends with you, Emily.”

Emily had never once screamed or even moaned in pain. But she doesn’t hear his comment as she is out cold.

* * *

 

Garcia had been exhilarated. It had been a long time since she had done something without worrying about the rules. And it had been fun! No serial killers or rapists or psycho cult leaders plagued her mind. It was just information. Information that didn’t include death scene photos or autopsy reports.

She looks at the next piece of paper he has left her. This would give him the private information on the Senators on the Armed Forces Committee. Some of the information was public knowledge from their bios and such. So how bad could it be to get the rest. Any hacker who wanted to could do it. Garcia could do it now and it would be okay because she was just doing it to protect Henry and Emily, right? It had nothing to do with the thrill of the hack.

After watching Emily’s beating, Myron had gone to his control room to watch Garcia. He can practically read her mind and knows the argument she is having with herself. He sees the excited gleam in her eye as she starts to type. He smiles.

“Good girl, Ms. Garcia. Just cross one more line.”

He had back checked her last hack to make sure she didn’t leave any breadcrumbs or trip any alarms. He would do it with this one, too, but he is sure she won’t do anything to risk the baby he doesn’t even have. He laughs at the thought that she is so protective of a brat who is safely ensconced at the day care at Quantico.

Fifteen minutes later she hits “Enter” one last time and blows a kiss at the computer. She has sent the information to the file “demon-man” told her to. She figures he must be watching and listening on CCTV again. She looks around, trying to find the camera.

“Okay, Mr Demon-man, you’ve got their info and I’ve wiped the trail clean. Not even I could trace myself I’m so damn good!”

Soon after her proclamation, the door opens and he enters. He walks over and pulls her into a hug, which she returns.

“Feels good, doesn’t it?”

“Oh, yeah! God, I forgot how much fun it was to just…just hack without care! I feel more alive than I’ve felt in a long time. Thank you!” Suddenly she realizes what she is saying and who she is thanking. She pushes him away. “Oh…no…wait…”

He takes her hands. “No, don’t fight it, Penelope. It feels good for a reason. It feels good because this is who you are meant to be. You are the Queen of Hackers. Not some trick monkey for the FBI. You have been chained to them because of one little mistake. One little trace that they used to find you. Trust me when I promise they will never find you again. Together, we will rule the world. Say you trust me, Penelope. Tell me you are ready to  _really_   make change happen.”

She stares into his dark brown eyes. She can see his commitment to his mission. She starts to smile, her eyes sparkling with admiration.

“Yes. Yes, let’s make the world ours.”

He pulls off his mask and caresses her cheek. “That’s my good girl.” He draws her into a deep kiss.


	13. Chapter 13

Morgan and Reid are not surprised that their meeting with Reginald Cervantes is to take place in the lobby of the CIA building. On a Saturday afternoon there are few people around and there was no way the Spooks would let the Feds too far into their stronghold. Morgan extends his hand. As they shake, he introduces himself and Reid.

“I’m SSA Derek Morgan. This is SSA Dr. Spencer Reid. I believe you know why we are here.”

Cervantes nods. “Yes. You want this.” He hands Morgan a thumb drive. “This is all the information you’ll need on Phillipe and Walters.”

Morgan raises an eyebrow. “I think we both know that’s bullshit. So why don’t you let us ask you a few questions so we can get what we really need.”

Cervantes stares at the two men a second before nodding. “This way, gentlemen.” He leads them to a small room off the lobby. He offers them seats but they prefer to remain standing. “Very well. It is our belief that Phillipe and Walters are planning to download information on our overseas operatives. As you can imagine, that information in the wrong hands will be deadly to our agents and profitable to the seller.”

“We’ve figured that part out,” Reid tells him. “He’s timing it for the upload of the government budget reports at midnight tonight. But to be blunt, it’s too easy. Either he’s the dumbest agent you’ve ever created or he’s got another angle. Which is it, sir?”

Morgan had turned to Reid. The young man rarely lets his emotions show and he never speaks so rudely to a superior. But stress and fear have made Reid fierce and Morgan is impressed.

Cervantes stares at Reid. “You, son, are insubordinate!”

“No, I’m angry. I’ve got two friends missing, one who’s been tortured by your agent and I have a hard time believing you had no idea he was writing the rules to his own game.” Reid’s voice gets louder as he finally unleashes his emotions. “And I also think you know what he’s really after and if you don’t start talking soon I may have to practice my hand-to-hand drills on you. Give us the information we need now!”

Morgan had been impressed before. Now he was astounded. He lays a hand on Reid’s shoulder. “Easy, Reid.”

Cervantes steps closer, his face close to Reid’s. “Boy, if I was 20 years younger I’d kick your ass.”

“I’d like to have seen you try, old man,” Reid counters.

“ _Who the hell is this guy_?” Morgan asks himself as he stares at Reid. He allows the two men to have their standoff. It may be the only way to get the respect of Cervantes and, with that, the information they need to save Garcia and Emily.

A small smile breaks across the face of Cervantes. “You have guts, Dr. Reid. I’ll give you that. And I’ll give you a place on my team if you ever tired of the FBI.”

“No chance.”

“Right. Still, the offer is there.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out another disk. “This information may prove more helpful to your case. We have long suspected Phillipe was alive. In fact, two years ago we finally confirmed it.”

“Son of a bitch,” Morgan mutters.

“When you stop him, and I have no doubt you will, we’ll take care of him.”

“What does that mean?” Reid asks.

“Good day, agents.” Cervantes leaves the room, Reid’s question answered by the silence.

The two FBI agents make their way to their car. Reid calls Hotch on speaker phone. “We have some information we’ll need to download and go over. The CIA wants to…take care of him when we stop him.”

“That can be determined later,” Hotch says. “All I care about is getting Garcia and Emily back.”

“Hotch, there’s one more thing you should know,” Morgan tells him.

“What’s that?”

“Dr. Reid can be a freaky scary Mr. Hyde when he’s pissed.”

Reid blushes as they hear Hotch chuckle. “Good to know. Get that info back here and let’s get our teammates home.”

As Hotch disconnects from Reid, JJ runs into his office. He sees the panic on her face.

“What?”

“Elizabeth got another email and video,” she tells him.

Hotch tenses and follows JJ to the conference room. Rossi is already loading the video onto the computer. Elizabeth looks at Hotch.

“Excuse me. I can’t…I just can’t…”

He nods sympathetically. “We understand. Please, feel free to wait in my office.”

“I think…Jennifer may I go sit with Henry?”

JJ forces a smile to her face. “Of course.”

Elizabeth nods and heads out. JJ watches her go, knowing that whatever has happened to Emily is only being done to torment the team. It wasn’t right that Elizabeth had to go through this. Rossi looks up.

“We’re ready.”

JJ closes the door and moves to the table. Hotch nods to Rossi and the new video starts. Pride surges in the three of them as they watch Emily fight back as best she can. When she finally goes down, JJ turns away, unable to watch. When Emily no longer moves, one of the men goes to the camera and turns it towards the door. A fourth man in a bloody demon mask steps into the room.

“The infamous Prentiss strength. Very, very impressive. So sad it ends with you, Emily.” He says. After a moment he turns to the camera. “I’ve asked for $5 million, Ambassador. But she seems like she is worth so much more. I’m sure there are plenty of people who would pay well for a whore like her.” JJ moans and leans on the table as her legs threaten to give out. “But to be fair, I’ll make it $10 million to you, Ambassador. Or I start the bidding at $5 million on the open market. How much do you think I’ll get…and from whom?”

The camera pans back to the unconscious woman on the floor and then ends. The three agents in the room are speechless. JJ grabs the water pitcher on the table and with a roar throws it against the wall. She is shaking all over. Hotch and Rossi step towards her but she holds up her hands.

“No. Don’t.”

She spins on her heel and storms out of the room. Hotch and Rossi exchange a look.

“Rossi, get Kevin tracing the email. And get with Reid and Morgan when they get here. I need to go speak with Ambassador Prentiss.”

“You sure you don’t want help?”

Hotch slowly shakes his head. “No. It’s almost 5 o’clock. We need to keep moving forward with the investigation. If he gets what he wants at midnight we’ll never see them again. That’s not an acceptable conclusion.”

Rossi watches his friend leave. Hotch looks like he might have aged 10 years in less than 24 hours. Rossi takes the new information to Kevin, hoping the analyst will be able to find something to help them end this fiasco.

* * *

 

Kevin has found traces of Garcia in 14 different government databases. He has traces running on all of them. When he gets an alert tone he slides his chair towards that particular computer screen. He stares at the code in a red box on his screen.

“What the hell is that?”

He tries to make it into something but it’s an incomplete string. He is trying to figure out where it came from when another alert sounds. Looking at that monitor he sees another incomplete string highlighted. He shakes his head.

“This doesn’t make any sense.”

“What doesn’t?” Rossi asks from behind him.

Kevin turns and looks at him. “I’ve found where Penelope has hacked at least 14 different mainframes. But suddenly I’m getting these strange incomplete strings of code. That makes no sense.”

“Okay. Why not? What exactly do these codes do?”

Kevin tries to think of a way to explain it to a non-computer geek. “Well, the codes are what make the programs work.” As he is talking, 3 more code snippets pop up. “But an incomplete code goes nowhere, does nothing and there is no way whoever wrote these programs would leave something like that in there. It’s as if—” and then it hits him. “PENNY! YES!”

“What? They’re from her?” Rossi prays.

“Yes! She’s left me information. I just have to get it strung together and figure out what she’s trying to tell us.”

His fingers are flying faster than Rossi can keep up with them. He pats the young man on the shoulder. “Great job, Kev. Great fucking job. Look, once that’s done, Elizabeth got another ransom video. See if you can run it back with your other program. Do you need extra help? Anything?”

Kevin shakes his head. “No. Just time. And before you say it I know it’s something we don’t have a lot of. I’ll let you know when I find something important.”

Rossi pats his shoulder again. “You’ve already found plenty that’s important. Don’t forget that.”

Kevin just nods, his concentration on the bits of code he is starting to discover buried in the hacked sites. “Come on, Penny. Lead us to you, baby. Lead us on.”

Rossi smiles and heads back to the conference room to wait for Reid and Morgan.


	14. Chapter 14

After walking out of the conference room, JJ had gone to her office long enough to grab her range bag. She needed to let off steam soon or she would break. Ten minutes later she slides her hearing protection onto her head. As all ambient sound around her is cut off she takes a deep breath. In this world there is only her, her heartbeat, the gun and her target. She slides her safety glasses on and sends her target down range.

Her hand caresses the gun laying on the counter in front of her. She carefully lifts it, sliding in the first clip. She racks the slide, setting a bullet in the chamber. Each move specific, practiced, calming.

She lifts her eyes to the target. Raising the gun she sights in the silhouette. One more deep breath in to steady her pulse. As she exhales, she empties the clip into the target. She ejects the clip and lifts a second one, slamming it home and readying the first bullet. She sights in another portion of the target and empties her clip.

She repeats this 5 more times. She’d have done more but she only had 7 clips ready. Usually she took longer between clips, checking the target each time to make sure her aim was true. She didn’t need that today. Today she knew her aim was true. Today she knew if she saw Myron Phillipe her shot would hit whatever she targeted.

She finally lowers the gun to the counter top. She hits the button that brings the target back up range. Seven clips, seven groupings of 12, none larger than a quarter. All had hit exactly where she aimed: left shoulder, right shoulder, center mass, heart, head, head, head.

She slowly packs up her gear, staring at the target the whole time. She had killed to protect the head of IAB and, in a way, Garcia. She had killed to protect Emily, Henry and her parents. If she killed Phillipe would it be revenge? She leans against the partition separating the shooting stations. She slowly slides to the floor, the tears she had been fighting since last night finally falling.

* * *

 

“He increased the demand, didn’t he?” Elizabeth asks.

She had sensed when Hotch had entered the day care area. She was standing at a crib watching Henry sleep. He had no idea how much danger his Mama was in. He had no idea how torn up inside his Mommy was. He didn’t even know his Grandmother was slowly breaking. He was truly sleeping the sleep of the innocent. What Elizabeth wouldn’t give to be able to experience that one more time. Instead she slowly turns to look Aaron Hotchner in the face.

“Yes, he did. He…he also said if you don’t pay it he’ll…” he glances away a moment to gather himself. Elizabeth can see how much whatever he has to say is affecting him. “He says he’ll sell Emily to the highest bidder.”

He sees the flicker of fear flash across Elizabeth’s face. But it’s almost immediately replaced by the mask he’s seen on Emily’s face many times. “And did he…did they hurt her again?”

“Yes, ma’am. But she never gave them what they wanted. She never once cried out. He wanted that response to hurt us. Emily was too strong to give it to him. She’s not done fighting, Ambassador. And neither are we,” he says with conviction.

She smiles and nods. “I know. Is Jennifer okay?”

“She’s taking some time to gather herself. She’ll be ready when we take this bastard down.”

She straightens her shoulders proudly. “Yes, she will. She’s a Prentiss after all.”

Hotch smiles and nods. “Yes, she is. I’ll let you know any new developments.”

“Thank you, Agent Hotchner.”

Hotch turns to leave. He pauses when he hears Elizabeth start to sing. He turns back and sees her stroking Henry’s back and singing a lullaby in another language. He vows to himself to bring the woman’s daughter back to her and to the baby in the crib or die trying.

* * *

 

Every time Garcia successfully hacks a database she squeals with delight. Myron is ecstatic. She has come to life thanks to him. He had freed the vibrant woman from the confines of the legal system. She hides behind gaudy clothes and jewelry. Now she would wear the finest linens and real jewels. He would make her his queen.

Garcia smiles up at him and points to the screen. The seal of the President of the United States is on the monitor. “Want to know what he emailed his cousin yesterday?”

He laughs and kisses her cheek. “Only if it will embarrass him enough that he’ll pay us to lose it.”

Garcia shrugs. “Nah. Just a dumb joke about a lawyer, a horse and a mourning dove.”

Myron thinks about it for a moment. “I can’t even begin to fathom how those three things would come together in a joke. And I’m not sure I want to,” he says with a laugh.

“Okay. Well, we’ll just download his personal address book. That should get us a few bucks. At least enough for a Slurpee or two,” she says with a wink, knowing the information would be worth much more.

Myron smiles and rubs her shoulders. “You are divine, my Penelope. I knew you would be.” He kisses the top of her head. “I need to go check on a few things.”

“Okay.” She looks up at him adoringly. “Hurry back, honey.”

He smiles. “I will. I promise.” He leans down and captures her lips in a deep kiss.

As he leaves the room she watches him with love in her eyes. He blows her one more kiss from the door and she giggles like a school girl.

As the door shuts behind him, Garcia spins back around to the computer, the goofy grin off her face. As she starts to bury more strings of partial codes in the various hacks she has running, she starts to mutter to herself.

“There is not enough fucking mouthwash in the world to clean up my mouth. And if he doesn’t quit kissing the top of my head I will have to shave myself balder than Morgan to get rid of the heebie jeebie’s he’s giving me. Fucking prick thinks I could love him after he’s got Emily and Henry stuck in some little room. They may be together but they are still scared. I know they are. But I’m going to get us out of here, my sweets. I swear if I have to…ugh…you know…with him…I will. I will do what I have to do to protect Henry and Emily. I will.”

She sends the last bit of code. If all is going well, the team will have pulled Kevin in to work with them. He’ll find it before anyone. He’s the second best computer geek in the FBI. She smiles proudly…second only to her. They were a hell of a team and together they would bring about the end to this situation before whatever Myron has planned comes to fruition.

On a nearby monitor, CIA undercover agents are flashing across the screen as their information downloads. Had Garcia been watching that computer she would have seen a younger Emily Prentiss and her cover information as Lauren Reynolds. Instead the next operative pops up as Emily’s official record is now saved to one of Garcia’s new toys.

* * *

 

Myron steps into Emily’s prison. She is starting to come around. He squats down beside her, tenderly brushing the hair from her face. Her eyes flutter open, though the one on the side where she took the brass knuckles is starting to bruise some.

“Tsk, tsk. I did warn them not to damage your face any more than it was. I will have to make sure the boys know I mean what I say. Can I get you anything, Emily?”

She glares up at him. “A ride home would be nice,” she croaks, her mouth dry.

He laughs as if it’s the funniest thing he’s ever heard. “Oh, Emily, you are really too much. So beautiful and yet funny, too. Do your co-workers ever get to see your lighter side? Or are you as icy cold as your mother?” Emily doesn’t answer. “Does Jennifer get to see that side of you? I know she gets to see a lot of you.” He trails a hand over her chest. “And I don’t just mean your body, though she is one lucky bitch to get to see that.” Emily bites her tongue to keep from responding. “Answer one question for me, Emily, and I will let you have something to eat and drink. Tell me, does Jennifer really make you scream in ecstasy or do you fake it like your whore of a mother?”

Emily’s eyes widen. Suddenly she remembers the voice, remembers the man. He smiles as he sees the recognition in her eyes.

“I enjoyed fucking her, you know. But I didn’t expect you to walk in on us that way. Who knows…maybe if I’d reacted better I could have gotten you to join us.” Myron had gotten complacent. He taunts Emily because he thinks she is too injured to do anything to him.

“NO!”

Emily brings her hands up and clubs him in the side of the head. As he falls, she leaps on him, pounding his face with her clenched fists. She doesn’t hear the men running in to save their boss. They grab her arms and drag her off of him. She kicks out with both feet, nailing Myron in the stomach. She struggles against the men holding her but she is no match for the three of them. They eventually have her on her knees, her arms tight to her body.

Myron slowly stands. “Big mistake, bitch. I really  _was_  going to let you mother buy you back. Now…now I don’t care how much is bid. I’ll sell you to whoever I think will make you suffer the most.”

He kicks out, catching her in the temple. Her body goes limp though she doesn’t lose consciousness. He storms out of the room. His men toss Emily down and follow their boss.

“Jennifer…Mother…I’m scared,” Emily whispers.


	15. Chapter 15

“This has got to be the biggest load of worthless crap we’ve ever seen!” Rossi shouts.

“Maybe we need to send Reid back to go apeshit on Cervantes’ ass,” Morgan suggests.

“Gladly,” Reid agrees.

Hotch rubs a hand over his face. “Are any of us surprised? Really? Our best bet has always been Kevin and Garcia. They are the ones who will bring this to an end. Hopefully Garcia has hidden enough code strings to lead us to whatever she is trying to tell us.”

The door to the conference room opens and JJ walks in…with Reginald Cervantes. Reid starts towards the man angrily but Morgan grabs him and stops him.

“Hotch, Chief Cervantes received a ransom demand from Phillipe,” JJ explains.

Hotch glares at the man. “And suddenly you want our cooperation?”

The man nods, contrite. “Yes. I was wrong to follow the party line before. I now realize you are our best chance to retake this asset.”

He hands Hotch his PDA. Hotch tosses it to Rossi who runs out of the room with it. The CIA chief sits down to wait for word on the traces that are nearly completion. Hotch looks at JJ and nods towards the bullpen. She follows him out of the room.

“Jennifer, are you okay?”

JJ takes a deep breath assessing herself. “I’m as okay as I can be. She is strong, Hotch. We saw that with Cyrus.” He nods. “And I dare say she has more to live for now.”

Hotch smiles. “That’s very true.”

They hear a scream echo down the hallway.

“I HAVE IT! I HAVE IT! I KNOW WHERE THEY ARE!”

Hotch and JJ run in from the bullpen as Kevin runs in from the hallway, Rossi right behind him. Kevin quickly cues up the computer in the room. A satellite image of a building in Fredericksburg, VA pops up on screen.

“The bastard has tapped into the intranet servers at the University of Mary Washington. This building is about a mile from the campus. It was empty until 8 months ago when it got new wiring and hi-speed internet access was installed. He then did—well, technical stuff you don’t care about to hijack a signal. Anyway, this is where they are. Garcia and Emily and the bastards that have them.”

Kevin has not slept since he was picked up by Rossi and Reid. But right now he is full of energy, knowing that the terror is nearing an end.

“Okay, let’s go.” He looks at Cervantes. “You still want to be in on this?”

“Yes. You know his arrest and the arrests of his men have to be handled delicately. You lead the charge but allow me to send men as backup and to take them into custody.”

“Agreed.” He looks back at the satellite image. He points to a dirt road not too far from the building but far enough to be out of security camera range. “Have them meet us here. And I swear to you, Cervantes, if your men go in before we get there and my agents are hurt I’ll let Reid kick your ass from here all the way back to Langley.”

Cervantes glances at Reid, who looks like he’d be happy to do it anyway. He looks back at Hotch and nods. “Understood.”

“Alright, let’s go. By the time we get there it will be full dark and that will be to our advantage. Kevin, you’re with us.”

“I…I am?” he echoes nervously.

“Yes. You won’t join the raid but can help guide us from a command vehicle. Afterwards we may need you to help to secure the computer equipment. Plus,” he smiles, “I’m pretty sure Penelope will want to see you.”

Kevin smiles and nods. “Thank you, sir.”

* * *

 

Two excruciating hours later the combined FBI/CIA team moves towards the building. Infrared satellite images had confirmed the presence of 6 people. Two are in a room filled with computers and the assumption is one of them is Garcia. Another is lying motionless in a small room alone. It is believed to be Emily. The other 3 people move freely about the building.

Morgan, Reid, JJ, and 2 CIA agents head for the back door. Hotch, Rossi, Cervantes and 2 more CIA operatives head for the front door. Once in position, Morgan keys his mike.

“We’re ready, Hotch.”

“Copy. Kevin, where are the unsubs?”

Back in the command vehicle, Kevin stares at the heat signatures of the unsubs. “One man is still with Penelope. Two are in the second room on the right as you come in the front door. The other guy is wandering around and…uh…he’s just gone into the room with Emily.”

JJ’s hand tenses. She takes a deep breath to steady herself.

“Okay, quiet entry now,” Hotch orders. “Keep it quiet as long as we can. Go.”

One of the CIA agents steps forward and tries the front door. It’s locked. He pulls a lock pick and in seconds is opening the door. A similar situation happens at the back door.

Hotch enters first clearing the first room he comes to. Rossi moves beyond him to the entry of the next room. He signals to the CIA agents, who nod. Rossi counts down on his fingers from 3 and he and the spooks burst into the room.

“Hands up, boys,” Rossi says calmly.

At first he thinks the men are going to fight them but 5 guns against 2 aren’t the best odds. They surrender. Hotch, Rossi and Cervantes move on as soon as the men are cuffed and led away by the CIA agents. Hotch and Rossi move forward, waiting for instruction from Kevin.

“Hotch? At the next hallway, turn right. Emily and the other unsub are in the third room on the left.”

“Copy,” Hotch responds.

In the room with Emily, Jackie Walters kneels beside the unconscious woman. “You’ll be our downfall, bitch. I don’t know why Myron wants to ransom you so badly but it’s just not a good idea. Only way to make sure that doesn’t happen is to make sure you aren’t alive to   _be_  ransomed. Bye, bitch.”

He wraps his hands around her throat and starts to squeeze. Just as her body starts to convulse he is clubbed upside the head by the butt of Hotch’s gun.

“Get off my agent, you fuck,” he growls.

“Well said, Aaron,” Rossi praises as Walters falls stunned to the ground. Rossi drops a knee onto his back and cuffs his hands. He stands, dragging the man up.

“He’s all yours, Chief.” He hands Walters off to Cervantes, who leads the man out.

Hotch is kneeling beside Emily. “Emily? Can you hear me? Hang on, Emily, everything is going to be okay.” He keys his mike. “Kevin, make sure those ambulances are ready to race in here when we secure the scene.”

“Yes, sir.”

Meanwhile, Morgan’s team had made their way to the door outside the mainframe room. They now wait for Kevin to tell them when the two people in the room have separated.

Penelope Garcia is a master of watching multiple monitors at once. Myron is to enthralled by his new “girlfriend’s” hacking ability he only watches the monitor she is currently using. When Garcia had noticed the agents on one of the security monitors she surreptitiously starts a program she had managed to write and set up. It puts all the security cameras on a loop showing everything is peachy keen in the hideout.

Garcia knows enough about FBI entry procedure to know they would want her as far from Myron as possible. Garcia looks up at her “sweetie” and asks with fluttering eyes. “Baby, can you get me a bottle of water?”

He kisses her cheek. “Of course, baby.”

He walks over to the mini-fridge in the corner. In the van, Kevin smiles and keys his mike excitedly.

“Morgan, unsub 1 still at the computers. Unsub 2 in back right corner of the room. Safe to enter.”

“Copy.” Morgan looks at his team and mouths “1-2-3”.

On three he kicks in the door. JJ is the first in, sweeping her gun towards the back right corner. Reid follows, his gun sweeping towards the computers.

“FBI! FREEZE!” JJ screams, knowing the other unsubs in the building had already been detained. Myron is in shock. He looks to the security camera screens in confusion. Then his gaze tracks back to Garcia, who has a smug grin on her face.

“Gotcha, motherfucker!” the analyst states.

“You BITCH!” He starts towards her but JJ’s voice stops him cold.

“One more step and I get to have a very good end to a very bad day.” Her voice is cold fury. He stares at her wondering if she would really fire. Her eyes narrow. “Go on. Try me.”

He relaxes his stance and raises his hands in the air. For a moment, Reid and Morgan think she’s going to fire even though M’s surrendered. She starts to lower her gun as Reid and one of the CIA agents move towards him. As Reid holsters his gun and pulls his cuffs, Myron makes his move. He throws a punch at the CIA agent and then grabs at Reid. With the tight cluster of people he assumes no shot can be taken. He doesn’t know JJ.

She fires, blowing off his kneecap. The man howls as he falls to the floor. She walks forward the gun leveled at his head as Reid cuffs him.

“You BITCH! I’ll fucking KILL YOU! I’ll kill you and your whore of a wife and that little bastard of a son!”

Her hands are steady as she stares at the man. She knows he is not making empty threats. She cocks the gun. Reid jumps up between JJ and Myron.

“JJ, don’t.”

“He means it, Spence. He’ll do it if he lives.”

“JJ…Jennifer…Emily wouldn’t want this. You don’t want to explain this to Henry,” Reid says compassionately. “Let the CIA take him in. You know they will take care of this.”

JJ stares at Myron a moment more. “If you go near anyone I care about again, no one will be able to save you.”

She lowers her gun as the CIA agents drag the man from the room, heedless of his destroyed leg.

“Jayje?”

JJ turns and sees Garcia. Both blondes smile. “Hi, Pen.”

Garcia runs into JJ’s arms. “I’m so sorry! I made sure he put Henry and Emily together! I swear I did my best to protect him and- -”

“Pen! Stop! Listen to me,” JJ pleads, hating the guilt she sees in her friends eyes. “Pen, he never had Henry.”

Garcia starts to shake. “He…he…he what?”

“When they took you they left Henry in the car. Henry is at the day care center with Matilda and Elizabeth. I promise you, he is okay.”

“So that’s why the bastard wouldn’t let me see them! I’ll kill him myself!” JJ smiles at Garcia’s anger.

“He needed to keep you focused on the computers and withholding Em, well, Em and Henry as far as you knew, was a way to do that.” Before she can say more, JJ hears over her earpiece Hotch order the EMT’s to hurry. She looks over at Morgan, her face paling. “Oh, God.” She runs from the room. “HOTCH! ROSSI! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?”


	16. Chapter 16

JJ follows the sounds of voices towards the front of the building. She sees 2 EMT’s with a gurney turn down a hallway to her left. She follows them knowing the only person who had been hurt on the raid was Myron. That meant those EMT’s were for Emily. As she gets closer to the room the men are turning into she hears a voice that’s music to her ears.

“I swear, I’m fine. Just bruised, dehydrated and hungry,” Emily states emphatically.

“Prentiss, you look like crap,” JJ says from the doorway.

Emily looks up. Brown eyes collide with blue. The women study each other. Emily can tell JJ has not had much sleep and is probably surviving on coffee alone. A smile spreads across Emily’s face.

“You won’t win any beauty contests yourself right now, Jareau.”

Rossi and Hotch smile at the two women who hide their fear behind jokes. Hotch looks at Rossi.

“Between you and JJ I believe you’ll be able to get Prentiss the medical attention she needs. I’m going to get Kevin and check on Garcia.”

Rossi nods as Hotch leaves. JJ makes her way over to Emily and kneels down. She caresses a hand down her wife’s cheek. “What the hell am I going to do with you?”

Emily raises her hand and takes JJ’s. “Never let me go?” she suggests.

JJ nods. “I think I can handle that. Now, Em, let the EMT’s take care of you. Please. Henry and your mother are going to want to see you soon.”

JJ knows it’s dirty pool to guilt Emily but she also knows guilt will get her to comply quicker than an order. Emily chuckles.

“You don’t play fair,” she lightheartedly complains.

“All’s fair in love and war,” JJ quotes.

Emily nods and lets one EMT get an IV started and as the other checks Emily for broken bones. Emily never lets go of JJ’s hand.

* * *

 

Kevin paces outside the building. When Hotch finally calls him to enter he races inside, meeting up with the unit chief at the hallway juncture. Together they head back to the mainframe room. Garcia is explaining to Morgan all the things she had done on the computers when a voice makes her jump.

“PENNY!”

Garcia spins around and is engulfed in a hug. She returns it, knowing the man she loves had saved her life.

“I knew you’d figure it out, baby. I knew you would.”

Kevin eases back and looks into her eyes. “You are amazing. The clues and non-clues you left were…God, Pen, you just floor me.”

He goes to kiss her but she pulls away. “No! You…you can’t. Not yet.”

He frowns. “What? Why?” He leans closer and whispers. “I think Hotch and Morgan will be okay with a kiss.”

Garcia smiles and strokes his cheek. “Kevin, I…I had to kiss him. He…he had this fantasy that I was going to be his queen and, well, I had to play on it and I didn’t mean it but he kept kissing me and touching me and I’m so sorry but I thought he had Henry and Emily and that if I didn’t he would—”

Kevin shuts her up with a kiss. As it ends, he stares into her eyes. “You did what you had to do to survive; to keep our friends safe. I’m not going to hold it against you, Pen. The more of his trust you gained the more clues you could leave for us. Granted, if I see him again I may resort to violence on him but not on you. Never on you. I love you.”

Garcia has tears in her eyes as she stares at the man who really, truly gets her. “I love you, too.”

They share one more kiss. Hotch and Morgan exchange smiles. Hotch finally steps forward and clears his throat.

“Um, Garcia, good to see you,” he says.

She smiles at him. “Good to see you, too, sir.”

Hotch looks around. “All the information you downloaded is in these computers. We’ll need techs to come in and—”

Garcia chuckles. “Oh, please, sir.”

She walks over to the keyboard she had been using and hits several commands. Suddenly the pictures and files on all the computer monitors are replaced by the image of a stick of dynamite. A cartoon match appears and lights the wick. The dynamite fizzes and sparkles for 5 seconds and then explodes. As it does, every monitor goes dark.

“Voila! You now have a room full of useless CPU’s,” she says with flourish.

“What exactly did you do?”

“Well, I knew you would save us so I set up a little Trojan horse so that with just a couple keystrokes I could completely destroy the computers. I’m not even sure I could get them up and running again,” she says proudly.

Hotch laughs and shakes his head. “Penelope Garcia, you are my hero.”

“Awww…right back atcha, Aaron Hotchner,” she says as she is once again pulled into a hug by Kevin.

* * *

 

After turning the computer room over to crime scene techs, Hotch, Morgan, Garcia and Kevin head up front. They see Emily being wheeled out of the building on the gurney. Morgan glances at Hotch, who nods. Morgan takes off running after his partner. He catches up to her outside the ambulance.

“PRENTISS!”

Emily turns and lets out a sigh of relief. “Morgan!”

He runs over and takes her hand. “I am so—”

“Don’t say it. Bastards got the drop on both of us. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

He smiles at her. “Same here. Look, I saw the video’s he sent.” Emily’s eyes darken. “I just want to say how impressed I am with how you handled yourself and how proud I am to be your partner.”

“Thanks, Derek. Look, they’re making me go to the hospital. Can you make sure Henry and Mother get there?”

He smiles at her. “Already in play, Prentiss. A junior agent is taking them.”

“Great. I think Jen will need them, too.” She looks beyond Morgan. He turns to see JJ handing her gun to Hotch and waiting to answer a few questions about the shooting.

He shakes his head. “They better not make a big deal of this. She didn’t kill the bastard. She took the shot that kept him alive. I’m not sure I’d have been as controlled.”

They watch the two agents have a brief discussion.

“They are going to make a big deal about the fact that you crippled him with the shot,” Hotch warns JJ.

JJ shrugs. “I took the shot I had. Reid and that agent were too close. My gun was partially lowered when I fired. It just happened to hit his knee.”

“JJ, you shot him in the same knee as he hit Emily,” Hotch points out.

“Oh really? What a coincidence,” JJ replies as she walks away.

Hotch watches her go. Her micro-expressions had given away nothing. He can’t help but wonder if she crippled the man on purpose. But unlike when Elle Greenaway had killed a suspect, Hotch wasn’t too concerned with pressing JJ. The bastard had deserved it.

JJ walks over and smiles at Emily. “Ready to go?”

“If I must,” Emily replies.

“You must,” JJ and Morgan say simultaneously.

Even the EMT’s laugh as they load the ornery agent into the ambulance. JJ climbs in with her and Morgan shuts the doors.

Back by Hotch, Kevin walks up and extends his hand to Rossi, who takes it and gives it a firm shake.

“Agent Rossi, I really need to thank you. You helped keep me focused, encouraged me but never hovered. You helped me believe I could help find Penelope. Thank you for everything.”

Rossi gives him a crooked smile. “Any time, kid. But you did it all yourself. God knows had you asked me for advice on any of that stuff the best I could have done was tell you how to cheat at Solitaire.”

Hotch chuckles and shakes his head. Kevin smiles. “Well, sir, if you ever need computer help for anything let me know. I owe you.”

“Kevin, you helped bring back Penelope and Emily. There are no debts here. It was a team effort. Welcome to the team,” he tells him sincerely.

Garcia just wraps her arm around his waist as her boyfriend blushes.


	17. Chapter 17

Two hours later Emily has been declared mostly okay. She has two cracked ribs but no other broken bones. Her knee is swollen but the doctors were impressed by how well she had managed to put it back in place. She is covered with bruises and a few cuts. Due to the dehydration and lack of food they are keeping her overnight in the hospital on IV’s to help her body heal.

“Are they here yet?” Emily asks JJ.

“Five minutes, Em,” JJ tells her. The blond sits on the edge of the bed and glances at the clock in the room. “Do you realize all this shit happened in just 24 hours? I feel like I’ve been awake for days.”

Emily smiles and runs her fingers through JJ’s hair. “I know. God, it felt like I was in there forever. And I couldn’t even tell Pen about Henry.” The brunette’s eyes tear up. “She kept apologizing to me the one time she saw me. And I couldn’t even tell her the truth. They had me gagged and blindfolded, Jen. I swear I couldn’t tell her.”

JJ pulls Emily into a hug. “Shh, baby. I know. She knows. It’s okay.’

Emily just allows JJ to hold her, drawing strength from the woman that she loves. And just when she thinks JJ is all she’ll ever need to feel whole, she hears the happy noises of a certain little blonde boy. She smiles and pulls away to look towards the door.

“Henry,” she whispers.

JJ smiles as Elizabeth and Henry walk into the room. He starts to bounce excitedly in his grandmother’s arms. JJ takes him and brings him to Emily.

“Easy, honey. Don’t want his wiggles to break those cracked ribs.”

“I don’t care about my ribs. Come here, Champ.”

She takes him and holds him close. Kissing his cheeks over and over as he giggles. She finally looks up at her mother. JJ and Elizabeth both see the flash of fury that darts across Emily’s eyes. Emily kisses Henry once more and then looks at JJ.

“Honey, can you give my mother and I a moment?”

JJ looks from one Prentiss to the other then nods. She takes Henry and steps outside the room, closing the door behind her. Emily glares at her mother.

“Did you tell them who he was?”

Elizabeth is confused. “What? Who?”

“Did you tell him the man who had me was the man you were screwing when Father left us?”

Elizabeth stares at her daughter. She had never watched the full video so had never heard the man’s voice. She had never looked at the case board in the conference room, not wanting to see the man they suspected was hurting Emily. Emily sees the shock on her mother’s face.

“You didn’t know, did you?”

Elizabeth slowly shakes her head. “No, Emily. I swear,” she confirms quietly. “I can’t believe Burton would do that to you.”

“Burton?” Emily asks.

“Yes, Burton Halliday. He was an investor in a- -”

“Mother, he is a CIA operative named Myron Phillipe. And he is a sociopath.”

Elizabeth slowly drops down into a chair. She had dated ‘Burton’ on and off for a year after Gerald had left her. Now she knows that whole part of her life was a lie, most likely she was just a case file to the man. She looks up at Emily. “Oh, Emily, I am so sorry. So, so sorry, baby.”

Emily reaches out a hand to her mother. “It’s okay, Mother. I have a feeling you were being used. And I hate that he did that to you. I’d like to have one more go at him, this time without the cuffs,” she says angrily.

Elizabeth takes Emily’s hand and leans down to kiss her forehead. “I love you, Emily. I am so glad you are okay.” She looks her daughter in the eyes. “And I would have paid anything he asked to get you back. You’re worth more than I can ever say.”

Emily smiles, tears in her eyes. “I love you, Mom.”

Elizabeth pulls her into a hug. Emily sighs in happiness.

* * *

 

In the waiting area Garcia is playing with Henry, promising him things JJ doesn’t even want to know how she might be able to deliver on. A tap on her shoulder causes her to look up and see Hotch handing her back her sidearm. JJ frowns as she takes it.

“But, they’ll need it to investigate the shooting, won’t they?” She asks confused.

Hotch stares into her eyes. “What shooting?”

He turns and walks down the hall. JJ’s eyes follow him, realizing that the CIA is going to make sure this whole 24 hours never actually happened. They would never want anyone to know one of their operatives was ready to hold for ransom every secret of the U.S. government.

Part of her is relieved that Emily and Garcia aren’t going to have to go through it all again. Part of her wants Myron to pay and the CIA to be held accountable. She looks to Garcia who is still playing with an excited Henry. She smiles. Revenge may be sweet but family is better. She would accept this ending and just count her blessings the hell was finally over.


End file.
